


Cherry vs the Return of the Joker

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Batman Beyond
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 06:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17259152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: It has been many years since Cherry, AKA Lady Gothika has heard from The Joker who had supposedly died a long time ago, but he seems to be out for revenge, as she decides to go with Lionel, AKA Bat-Mite into Gotham City to go and visit the now long retired Bruce Wayne with the new Batman also known as Terry McGinnis as they're all in for a brand new adventure in 2019.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read! I know it was short, but thank you for voting for my newest story to be the first one of 2019. I highly suggested this one since this is when the Batman Beyond timeline begins, and I thought it would be interesting. I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the years. I really love my art, and the fact that so many people love me writing my stories makes me feel very happy because I've always wanted to be a famous author when I grew up.
> 
> I would also like to thank the many people I RP with who help make this possible, such as thunder pony (Atticus), Scrappy Doo Fan (who RP'd this one with me), AnnaleaseTurner (Katie Kat), and CartoonNetwork90sFan (also known as Cathleen) who help make my stories possible. I also want to thank the many reviewers I've had over the years, such as RustyPete12 who isn't just an avid fan, but also a very good friend of mine who helps make me feel better in my times of need. I really wish more reviewers could be like him. Thank you everyone, not just my reviewers or my collab partners, but everyone in my life for help making me the author I am today, this is really fun, but you all make it worthwhile when you want to see more of what I can do.
> 
> Anyway, Happy New Year, looking forward to showing you guys more of my talent in 2019 as we part ways with 2018. Enough mush for right now, you wanna read a story. Before we get into Return of the Joker, enjoy this short part, think of it as a Pixar Short before you can enjoy the main story which is adapted from the short also known as Twisted. And as always, thank you, and remember to Read & Review! Yours truly, PerkyGoth14.

It was a dark and gloomy night in another Gotham, and Batman stealthily glided over a fence and landed on his feet before walking into a warehouse. Naturally, his goddaughter, Gothika, and her boyfriend Bat-Mite were also with him. Apparently they were investigating a string of disappearances, and their search had led them here.

"Stay close and remember to keep quiet." Gothika told Bat-Mite, sounding dark and mysterious, though it was like he was the only person around who never made her feel sick or disgusted about humanity in general.

"Rodger-dodger!" Bat-Mite whispered as he saluted, as he floated over the ground with ease.

"And now, here we go..." Gothika said as her tone always sounded dry and uncaring.

Batman approached a refrigerator nearby, and opened it. Inside were 12 severed heads inside plastic bags...as well as a bottle of "grape soder".

Bat-Mite's face turned green. "I think I'm gonna be sick..." he groaned.

"Eh, you'll be fine." Gothika said, shrugging off the heads like they were nothing to her.

Bat-Mite shuddered. "Y-Yeah...you're right...I'm a superhero! We see uglier stuff than this on a regular basis!" he grinned. "Thanks, G!" He picked up a severed head. "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well!" he recited, before rolling the head back into the fridge.

Gothika glanced over that. "Someone's in here... I can sense it..." she then said, a bit strongly.

So they headed further into the warehouse, and found three giant jack-in-the-boxes. Batman opened one, and out popped a giant jack. Bat-Mite openes the next one, and out popped...a dead guy's upper body, dressed up to look like a jack-in-the-box clown. Bat-Mite turned pale-white at that.

"That's just sickening." Gothika said in a nearly stoic tone.

They soon heard shaking and knocking from another box.

"I knew it!" Gothika glared at first, and she soon opened up this one to see a tied up and gagged woman inside of it. She soon stood the woman up and took the tape off her mouth.

"Thank God! I thought it was her..." The woman said shakily.

"Relax, lady; you'll be okay." Bat-Mite urged, pulling out a Swiss-army knife and cutting her ropes.

"We'll get you out of here." Batman promised.

"She... She's behind you!" The woman whimpered fearfully.

Bat-Mite whipped around. "What the-?!"

Harley Quinn's shadow soon came right up behind them with her trademark mallet and they dodged out of the way and she hit the dead guy instead. She soon dragged it behind her as she saw she missed them and soon grinned manically and got ready to try again.

"Go, lady, go!" Bat-Mite urged, as the woman ran away, up the stairs and into the night.

Harley came closer.

"Yeah... No." Gothika muttered before kicking Harley Quinn down on the floor.

Bat-Mite grabbed Gothika and quickly scrambled away as fast as he could.

"You let my plaything get away, Batman and Friends..." Harley said as she soon went to follow them, looking at the shattered mirrors. "THAT WASN'T NICE! Just because you guys are such gloomy guses doesn't mean we all have to be that way!" she then checked her teeth before she kept going. "Now that poor bitch will go back to her drab little life, WHEN I COULD'VE MADE HER FUN FOREVER!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, ya psycho broad..." Bat-Mite sneered.

Harley growled as she heard that and looked around. Batman was soon clinging to the ceiling and swooped down on her only to get whacked away by the hammer, crashing into a mirror.

"Yeesh, he'll feel that in the AM..." Bat-Mite cringed. "We hafta do sumthin'!"

"Hmm..." Gothika paused as she tried to brainstorm. "We gotta bring the hammer down and then get her." she then quietly suggested to Bat-Mite.

"Bring the hammer down, eh?" Bat-Mite smirked. "Leave it to me!"

"If you insist..." Gothika allowed.

Harley Quinn soon came to hit Batman one more time, and not in the way that Brittney Spears means it.

But suddenly, Bat-Mite zapped the hammer's edge, making it too heavy to lift. "NOW, GUYS, NOW!" he shouted, using his wings to dart around like a dragonfly.

Harley tried to lift the hammer back up only for Gothika to punch her right away against another mirror. Batman and Gothika sneered as Harley was dealt with, but they knew that couldn't have had been the end.

Bat-Mite flew through the broken mirror and glanced down. "A welcome mat? But...what for?"

"Our doooom~" Gothika said in a cartoony voice with crossed eyes before looking over and yelped. "Gah! That's worse!"

They soon saw what looked like a stereotypical happy family from the 1950's, but they appeared to be rotting corpses that were dressed up like dummies in a museum, and there was a place on the couch for 'a sister' with two parents, a grandmother, and a little boy in front of the television.

"Okay... Now I am DEFINITELY gonna be sick..." Bat-Mite groaned. "This lady's a grade-A sociopath!"

"NO SUPER-CREEPS ALLOWED IN MY ROOM!" Harley grinned sadistically as she appeared with a chainsaw, but missed them and instead, sliced off the head of the old woman's corpse, beheading her instantly. "Grandma..." she then whispered.

"Apologies, ma'am." Gothika said as she took the head before tossing it.

"SHE WAS GONNA BAKE ME COOKIES!" Harley screeched in anger.

"Yikes...all she needs now is a hockey mask..." Bat-Mite shivered.

"Now, we run." Gothika said.

And so, they all ran while Harley tried to hack them with the chainsaw, but luckily, mutilated the corpses and not them.

"Better them than us." Bat-Mite commented.

"I've never envied the dead more than I have before." Gothika replied.

Eventually, Batman shoved the TV near Harley and she got out of the way, but got her chainsaw stuck in the sofa before running toward them as they stood in front of an iron pole.

"Hey...she's stuck! Now's our chance!" Bat-Mite grinned. "Let's get DANGEROUS!"

Harley snarled as she soon got unstuck before running to them.

"SCATTER!" Gothika called out and soon ducked out of the way with Batman and Bat-Mite and the chainsaw soon hit the pipe which brought the blade off and bounce against her stomach, slitting against it.

Bat-Mite took out a gas gun and fired it at Harley. "Suck my gas, evildoer!" he snarled.

"That sounds nasty for some reason." Gothika stated drearily.

Harley groaned from both pain and disgust as she reached severe discomfort.

"Game over, Quinn." Bat-Mite smirked, reholstering his gas gun.

"All right, all right already! I know when I'm licked!" Harley replied out of annoyance before looking at them. "Go on, take me to jail, Coppers."

"Hm... Jail..." Batman smirked. "Gothika, you want this one?"

"I could go for something actually..." Gothika said before smirking to Harley, showing her fangs. "I do feel rather... HUNGRY."

"Ooh, I wanna feed too! Can I, please?" asked Bat-Mite, flashing his fangs.

"You two can share." Batman allowed.

Harley's eyes widened. Gothika and Bat-Mite soon both sank their fangs into Harley's bare neck, making her scream as the crimson liquid leaked from her neck as they fed upon her.

"Now THAT's good eatin'!" Bat-Mite snickered, licking their faces clean.

"Finger licking good." Gothika added as she licked one of her fingertips.

"Eh, nobody's gonna miss her." Bat-Mite burped, licking some spare blood off Gothika's face.

Gothika let out a little broken chuckle from being tickled, but she actually did enjoy it, and was just mostly dark and brooding that it came off as awkward. Bat-Mite smiled at her.

Batman soon helped them both back up as Gothika looked down to Harley's lifeless body. "Wow, I was right, if she got any paler, she'd be white as a sheet." she then commented darkly.

"Good thing she can't come back as a vampire... Right?" Bat-Mite asked.

"She shouldn't..." Gothika said as she wiped her mouth a bit. "At least, that's not what I intend for."

"Right then." Bat-Mite sighed, unaware that they were being watched by their counterparts...their evil ones.

"Whoa, nelly, that was a gore-fest!" Owl-Mite chuckled.

"Ooh... Such violence!" Sunshine gasped melodramatically. "I simply cannot even!"

"But it was a hoot!" Owl-Mite giggled.

"Ooh... The puns~..." Sunshine commented, in an almost ditsy fashion.

"Well... What next? I mean, you can pick if you wanna..." Owl-Mite replied.

"Onwards!" Sunshine proclaimed. "To the future to 2040!" she then smiled. "With those Dee Dee twins played by the lovely Melissa Joan Hart... What a wonderful actress who I'll always remember as Sabrina Spellman."

"Of course, milady!" Owl-Mite nodded, setting the viewer-cam for these coordinates. "You...DO like me, right? Like, more than friends?"

"Weeeeeell~..." Sunshine paused like she was thinking about it.

Owl-Mite's face fell at that.

Sunshine let out a small giggle. "Of course I like ya!"

Owl-Mite beamed at this. "Oh, thank you, I needed the validation!" he grinned. "Anyways, let's take a look at Gotham City of the future!" he continued, as it showed the landscape of the futuristic Gotham City.

Sunshine laughed and hooted like a certain Looney Tune duck as the scene changed.


	2. Chapter 2

We are shown a shipping building as a man was trying to avoid someone and brought out his gun. "Stay back!"

A growling was heard, and then a beastly snarl was heard as the man was attacked. The man yelped as his gun was sent flying. The creature attacked the man and sent him down on the floor where there were some others which were a few guys and a couple of girls who were twins known as The Jokerz.

"You should've said 'heel'." One guy that was almost like a scarecrow known as Ghoul mocked the guard.

The hyena-looking creature snickered evilly at this. The group of Jokerz soon went off to make an escape. The two twins soon sprung into action.

The big guy known as Bonk was trying to drive his hover craft as the twins sat there. "It's lagging..." he complained as he tried to maneuver the craft before crashing against the twins which made them land beside him.

"He's really got a delicate touch, Dee Dee." One twin told the other.

"Delicate like a moose, Dee Dee." The other twin added.

Though he managed to pick up the large machine. "I hate ripping heavy crud like this. Gimme cash cards any day." Bonk grumbled.

"Zip it, Bonk," Chucko told him as they moved out. "The plan is get in, and get out! Fast!"

A shadow soon flew over them which didn't go unnoticed. "Huh?"

"It's a school night, boys and girls," A figure smirked to them. "I'm gonna have to call your folks."

"Too bad," added another voice. "They're gonna be real mad when they find out...!"

The hovercaft with Bonk and the Dee Dee twins soon went out of control and the girls tried very hard to hold on.

"Oh, nuts..." grumbled the second voice. "You're gonna leave now? But we went through the trouble of planning out that whole banter!"

"Follow my lead, we're going in." The first voice smirked.

Chucko soon brought out a gun and attempted to shoot the two, one of which being the Future Batman, but Bat-Mite managed to block it and veer the shot off-course. Batman soon flew upwards and landed on the hover craft while the Dee Dee twins held on for dear life. Bonk growled as he tried to punch Batman in the face only to miss and soon tried to knock him off of the craft after giving up.

Bat-Mite sighed, levitating the twins out of danger. "Don't ask me why I did it..." he groused.

"Why?" The Dee Dee twins smirked. "You like us! You really like us!"

Bat-Mite rolled his eyes. "....Whatever. Even I'm not heartless enough to let two teenagers die, even if they ARE criminals... They're still people."

"We're really touched." Dee Dee 1 replied with a small smirk.

"Yeah, yeah," Bat-Mite grunted, Piccolo-style. "But I still gotta help take down your friends."

"Say, don't you usually have someone with you?" Dee Dee 2 asked.

"Yeah, where's your giiiirlfriend?" Dee Dee 1 added.

Bat-Mite smirked. "Oh, she's due to arrive...in 3....2....now."

"SURPRISE, MUTHA--" Gothika glared as she soon jumped in, frightening the Dee Dee twins.

"Bada-bing, bada-boom!" Bat-Mite grinned. "Way to make an entrance!"

"Eh, I wanted to make it a surprise." Gothika replied.

The Dee Dee twins glared to her.

Gothika soon grabbed a hold of both of them with a smirk. "Hm... What do to do with you two?~" she mused a little.

Bat-Mite pondered for awhile, and shrugged. "Dunno!" he replied.

"Oh, well, I tried." Gothika said before throwing the Dee Dee twins over her shoulder, making them both yelp. "I don't even know which is which."

"Does it even MATTER?" asked Bat-Mite.

"Meh." Gothika shrugged before they looked up.

Batman was handling the other Jokerz on his own since that was what he trained for.

"They grow up so fast~" Gothika cooed to the new Batman.

"Yup," Bat-Mite sniffed. "I'm SO proud of 'im."

The Dee Dee twins began to fall to their deaths, but Batman had the same philosophy as Bat-Mite and soon saved them from falling with his grappling hook, only to get socked by Bonk.

"Hey, lay off. What, you wanted them to die?" Bat-Mite asked. "Thought they were your friends!"

"Gettin' rid of YOU rejects first!" Bonk smirked as he was about to bash him next.

But Bat-Mite just pulled out a mallet and pushed a button, causing a spring-loaded boxing glove to pop out, knocking Bonk in the face.

"Gotta love cartoon physics." Gothika commented.

"Hey, thanks." Batman smiled to Bat-Mite and Gothika.

"No sweat." Bat-Mite replied.

Chucko was soon seen getting a chip and once he got it, the Dee Dee twins flew in to fly away with him.

"They never quit..." Gothika glared. "They get worse every time I step foot into Gotham City... Past or Present."

"Ugh, I know. Too bad the future only increased crime..." Bat-Mite sighed. "Almost makes everything we did seem meaningless..."

"Don't think like that... We did our part..." Gothika told him. "Besides, I gotta help take care of things with a certain old friend of mine being long into retirement."

"Yeah, same here," Bat-Mite replied. "And thanks."

"You're welcome..." Gothika said before smirking. "What can I say except you're welcome, For the tides, the sun, the sky, Hey, it's okay, it's okay, You're welcome, I'm just an ordinary perky goth~"

"Hey, nice jam! I get the reference!" Bat-Mite chuckled.

Gothika smiled bashfully to that little song.

"Anyway, let's take out the trash!" Bat-Mite grinned.

"Come on then." Gothika said before moving down mysteriously with him.

"You can't catch us!" Chucko yelled out while getting away.

"Oh, really?" Bat-Mite asked before appearing out of nowhere in front of him. "BWAAAAAARRRRGGGGH!!!" he roared.

Chucko yelled out as that startled him and he even clenched his chest.

"Gotcha!" Bat-Mite smirked. "Big things come in small packages!"

"Why, you little--" Chucko growled at him in annoyance.

"LITTLE?!" Bat-Mite snapped, towering over him. "I dunno.... From what I see, you don't look so big yourself!"

"You're gonna pay, ya pest!" Chucko glared as he soon punched Bat-Mite.

Gothika jumped down behind him for that before kicking Chucko right down and when he tried to get back up, she began to fight him, almost like Chun-Li in Street Fighter or Luna from Mortal Kombat.

"Nice save." Bat-Mite replied, before returning to normal size.

"I do what I can." Gothika replied, crossing her arms in a laid-back kind of way.

"And I LOVE it!" Bat-Mite replied. "Now let's discipline these little slugs!"

"Gladly..." Gothika replied with a small smirk. "Incoming!"

Bat-Mite turned around and braced himself. The mutant of the group soon ran in and pounced towards the both of them.

"You've been a bad doggy..." Bat-Mite smirked. "I think it's time ya found a pal to play with!" He whistled, and an older, full-grown Scrappy lunged at the mutant, tackling him.

"It's about time!" Scrappy smirked while handling the mutant. "Who's this guy then?"

"From what I've heard: Woof." Gothika said.

"Wow." Scrappy rolled his eyes to that while fighting the mutant member of The Jokerz.

"Apparently he's some kinda mutant who got spliced with hyena DNA... Some sort of twisted tribute to Bud and Lou..." Bat-Mite explained.

"Ugh..." Gothika groaned to that with a slight shudder before letting out a small gasp and held her stomach. "Ooh... I guess I had a bit of too much excitement..."

"Don't worry, we'll get going after this." Scrappy promised her.

"What he said," Bat-Mite replied. "Say, what did happen to Sayia Man and his pooch partner?"

"At home in another universe~..." Gothika said in a mysterious tone of voice, looking around before shrugging. "Eh, in this continuity, I don't know." she then added with a fourth wall break.

"I hope they didn't bite the big one, buy the farm, or get a one-way trip to the Next Dimension." Bat-Mite added as Scrappy continued dueling the hyena mutant.

"Well, Sayia Man's kind of a god actually because of Dragon Ball Z crossovers." Gothika shrugged with a small smirk.

"At this point, I'm not surprised..." Bat-Mite shrugged as Scrappy knocked Woof out with one punch.

Woof soon crashed along with the other Jokerz.

"Well, there's just so many universes." Gothika muttered slightly about the world she lived in.

"I guess, but THAT makes it fun," Bat-Mite replied. "Especially now that the delinquents are handled. Any longer and I would've neutered that hyena... By hand."

"All in a day's work..." Scrappy said. "You okay, LG? You look light-headed."

"Must've had too much excitement, I think I should lie down for a minute." Gothika replied.

"Alright... We might as well get home..." Bat-Mite sighed.

"Help me out?" Gothika asked, almost looking dizzy.

"Why wouldn't I?" Bat-Mite replied, helping her to her feet.

Gothika latched onto him as she took a quick breath as she didn't seem like herself right now. Sirens were then heard which would hopefully be police to take away The Jokerz gang.

"It's the boys in blue," Scrappy commented. "So let's get going."

Bat-Mite nodded, and they vanished.

"That ain't comin' out of my allowance." Batman muttered before he also left.

And so, they returned to the Bat Cave.

Gothika soon came in, going behind a changing panel, and came out as Cherry as she looked quite exhausted as she was with Scrappy and Bat-Mite. "I think I need a nap... For about two or three days..." she muttered to herself.

"You've earned that rest. I say we ALL have..." Bat-Mite replied. "But thanks to my spell, we should all be back to normal strength in at least a few hours..."

"Fair enough... I guess I just overdid it a little." Cherry replied.

"Everyone has their off days." Bat-Mite replied, turning back into Lionel.

"Yeah.... That's true..." Cherry admitted. "I guess I'm just getting too old... Even if I look the same from when I was in high school."

"No prob; I got a disguise spell in here, too!" Lionel replied. "We can use it to disguise ourselves as teens and go undercover at McGinnis's school, or wherever he hangs out."

"Not that I would change much in appearance." Cherry smirked to herself.

"Maybe you'll have less gray hairs." Scrappy said for a joke. 

Cherry gave him a deadpan death glare in response to that.

"Knock it off," Lionel retorted. "Either way, ya look like a dream. Besides, no sense in changin' what's already perfected."

"I need a drink..." Cherry said before bringing out a bottle of wine, biting the cork, spitting it aside, and then drank some of the liquid inside.

Bat-Mite just poofed up a 2-liter bottle of soda and guzzled it down. Cherry let out small hiccups once in a while and continued to drink until setting down the bottle. 

"Don't overdo it." Scrappy reminded her.

"Oh, I'd never do that~" Cherry smirked innocently.

"Even if you ARE kinda hot when you're like this." Lionel added.

"I'm always hot~" Cherry giggled cheekily.

"That IS true." Lionel replied.

"Seriously, where did the time go?" Cherry asked. "Wasn't it like 1994 yesterday?"

"Yeah... Time is funny like that..." Bat-Mite shrugged.

"Maybe it's 1969?" Scrappy smiled innocently.

"You're too young to make that joke." Cherry smirked.

"Yeah," Lionel replied, as Scrappy headed out.

"I'll just hang this up outside so nobody disturbs you two's....private time." he smirked, holding up a "Do Not Disturb" sign, like the one you see at a hotel.

Lionel's face went red as a tomato.

"Very funny." Cherry rolled her eyes to that slightly.

"Hey, I'm just sayin', you two are married, might as well seal the deal!" Scrappy replied as he left.

"Goodbye, Scrappy." Cherry rolled her eyes again.

"You don't think he might have a point.... Right?" Lionel blushed.

"In his own twisted little way... He does..." Cherry admitted. "I guess I could use something to get my mind off of the chaos that is Gotham City, even long after I was an innocent youth my first time visiting with my loved ones."

"Hey, sometimes everyone needs a way to take their minds off this town." Lionel replied.

"I know I do..." Cherry muttered slightly.

"Well... We might as well..." Lionel replied. "But not cuz he said to."

Cherry let out a noisy hiccup. "Excuse me then..." she then said before jumping up to her feet and going to the bathroom. "I have to freshen up."

"Cool, I'll hang back here." Lionel replied as Cherry left.

Cherry stumbled slightly since she drank quite a lot and shut the door in the bathroom behind her. Lionel took out a Secret Wars comic and started reading to pass the time. Cherry hummed herself some Chopin as she got herself ready before going back out to see Lionel, attempting to make herself look decent, even if she wasn't all there that night. Lionel glanced up from his comic...and his eyes bugged out of his head, and his jaw hit the ground.

"Sorry I took so long, I was trying to keep my balance." Cherry said as she came out. 

"It's cool." Lionel replied.

"Well... Come along then~" Cherry gave a small smirk as she came closer towards him. 

Lionel gulped, bracing himself. "I'm ready for this." he said to himself before smiling confidently.

"Here I come..." Cherry said before she seemed to pounce towards him with a smirk. 

Lionel's eyes widened in surprise.

Two hours later...

Cherry smoked on a cigarette and soon breathed out some smoke, trying not to get it in Lionel's face, though she smirked as she felt satisfied. 

"That....was amazing..." Lionel gasped, sweat running down his face.

"Probably the best." Cherry replied. 

"Though I wonder...what did the Jokerz want with all that hi-tech stuff?" Lionel pondered. "Seems a little too big-time for a bunch of small-timers...."

"That's a good question..." Cherry admitted. "They must be up to something pretty big." 

"Then we'll hafta investigate..." Lionel replied. "At least tomorrow."

"Not right now... Too soon..." Cherry smirked. 

"Yeah...you're right..." Lionel replied, kissing her.

Cherry lightly purred from that, almost like a sly kitten. 

Lionel blushed at that. "We'll start the investigation tomorrow." he replied, getting under the covers.

"Mm-hmm..." Cherry nodded before she put her out her cigarette on the ashtray on the night stand and soon yawned. "I know I earned some rest after tonight." 

"Yup...g'night, angel..." Lionel yawned, nicknaming her.

Night..." Cherry muffled as she soon turned over to get some sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, the duo were back to normal, and ready to continue the investigation. Since the Jokerz were teenagers, they both went undercover at the high school.

"I don't feel that different, then again, I don't think I aged after I turned 16." Cherry said on the way, looking a bit steely-eyed.

"Wonder why?" Lionel asked.

"I'm just born with grace and beauty..." Cherry shrugged as they wandered.

On the way, there seemed to be a pink-haired girl.

"Yeah, that seems accurate." Lionel shrugged.

"Who are you guys?" The pink-haired girl asked.

"Transfer students..." Cherry made up on the spot. "We'll be visiting Hamilton High School for a little while." 

"Hm... I don't remember hearing anything about transfer students, but welcome, I guess." The pink-haired girl shrugged.

"Thanks," Lionel shook her hand. "I'm Lionel Schwartz."

"Maxine Gibson, but please, call me Max." The pink-haired girl replied.

"And I'm Eartha West." Cherry said, using a pseudonym because her real name would be too obvious.

"Alright, we got intros outta the way." Lionel replied.

"I guess you guys should come with me." Max said, leading the way for them.

Cherry nodded as she followed after, seeming like a stereotypical goth as she and Lionel investigated the school like detectives in disguise. While Max's head was turned, Lionel repeatedly sniffed around the area in search of clues.

"Where'd you guys come here from?" Max asked.

"Hm....Jump City." Lionel replied.

"Well, I hope you can make it around here okay." Max said.

"It's okay so far..." Cherry shrugged. "I guess you could say I feel like I've grown up here already."

"Same here!" Lionel added.

"You two sure are interesting." Max commented.

"More than you know~" Cherry whispered ominously.

"Yeah, we get THAT a lot! You're plenty interesting yourself!" Lionel replied.

"Heh, well, thanks." Max said as she took them down the hallway.

"Ah, no prob, Max." Lionel shrugged.

A man soon came out of his office and looked over.

"Principal Nakamura." Max told Cherry and Lionel.

"Nice to meet'cha." Lionel shook his hand.

"Good morning..." Principal Nakamura greeted. "I don't believe I've seen you two in this school before."

"We're new," Cherry replied, looking around, but speaking directly to him. "Not troublemakers though..."

"Yeah, we're pretty decent people." Lionel added.

"Mostly." Cherry whispered ominously.

"Hm... I'm not sure if I remember seeing anything about new transfer students in my files, probably an error..." Principal Nakamura replied.

Lionel twitched his toe, and inserted the "new student" notice into the system. "I dunno...perhaps you could check again?" he asked.

"Hmm... Let me check... This thing is always on the fritz," Principal Nakamura said before checking. "Well, whatya know?"

Lionel winked and smirked at Cherry.

"Well, welcome to our school... I trust that you won't get into any trouble, like some students I could mention...." Principal Nakamura said to them.

"Relax, sir; we'll try our best." Lionel replied.

"It's the least we can do for being welcomed into this new school." Cherry added.

"Yeah!" Lionel added.

They were soon shown to be exploring the school and being told about it from Max after she was given an excuse pass for if she missed any classes.

"Pretty interesting place..." Lionel commented.

"It is what it is." Max replied.

"Isn't every school?" Cherry smirked.

"Some more than others..." Lionel replied.

"I hope you guys can like it here though." Max said to them.

"Eh, no problem. We'll take to it like a duck to water." Lionel replied.

Afterwards, they went to the party celebrating Bruce's reclaiming of Wayne Enterprises along with the retired Dark Knight himself and Terry.

"Man, I need a drink..." Cherry muttered.

"Leave it to me-owth." Lionel commented, poofing up a drink.

"Thank you..." Cherry said, taking the drink and drank it right away.

"Guess all the hero work is putting a ton of pressure on you...?" Lionel asked.

"A little bit..." Cherry said. "I haven't been feeling too much like myself lately."

"Well, Bruce is about to give his speech," Lionel commented. "We can discuss it afterwards."

"Fair enough..." Cherry said as they walked off.

Bruce looked over to Cherry and gave a small chuckle. "How is it I got older and you stayed the same?"

"Just lucky, I guess." Lionel smirked.

"I told you you'd end up being a Gray-Haired Knight." Cherry quietly quipped to Bruce.

"Well, I couldn't have helped it with your dangerous childhood." Bruce playfully retorted.

Bruce and Cherry soon shared a tender and heartfelt hug.

"Aw... That's sweet," Lionel commented. "But you got a speech to deliver. So get up there and wow 'em."

"I'd say break a leg, but that sounds dark." Cherry said.

"You always did have an interesting sense of humor." Bruce told her before going off.

"He's right, y'know." Lionel replied.

"Think of me as a young female Steven Wright..." Cherry shrugged.

Lionel shrugged as Bruce approached the podium. "Whatever ya say, dear. Whatever ya say."

Cherry soon looked up with the others as the lights were dimmed and a spotlight shined as a woman introduced Bruce to the audience.

"Thank you, Joyce. It's a pleasure to see you all again," Bruce smiled as he came to the podium. "In the future, I hope to--"

"Augh!" Cherry yelped from the microphone feedback, covering her ears.

Lionel hissed through his teeth at the sound of the feedback, before it stopped. Cherry's left eye twitched behind her glasses from the uncomfortable sound.

"Uh... Spend time getting to know each member of our company," Bruce soon continued with an apologetic smile. "Learning about you individually--"

The feedback then seemed to come back and there was a laughter heard.

Lionel's face went pale. "No.... That horrible laughter...." he gasped.

"But... He... He's..." Cherry stammered.

Woof soon snarled, coming out of a bush beside a woman who shrieked from the scare he caused. He dashed towards the stage and cornered Bruce, leaping from side to side, before trying to attack him. Terry tried to stop Woof, but was unable to. Bruce narrowed his eyes to the mutant. Woof then tried to attack Bruce but kept missing until Bruce then hit him with his cane, he still had it after all these years.

"I knew I should've neutered him before..." Lionel grumbled. "Time to get to work." He placed a black dot over his chest and it covered his body like a blob, forming into his Bat-Mite suit.

Up on stage, Bruce was approached by the Dee Dee twins, with bad intentions in mind. Cherry looked to that, she then turned to the shadows, and instantly became her superhero guise of Lady Gothika, or LG for short.

"Well, if it isn't old Mr. Wayne?" Dee Dee 1 smirked.

"So debonair~" Dee Dee 2 added, hugging Bruce's arm.

"So dashing!" The other added, clinging to his right arm.

"So going to be black and blue twins in a second." Gothika glared as she came towards the Dee Dee twins.

"So ready to join in on that!" Bat-Mite added, streaking in next to her.

The twins gushed over him.

"Hey, I'm not cute, I'm fearsome!" Bat-Mite insisted.

"Dudes! Stop being such duds, and just... MOVE!" LG glared at the twins before shoving them violently while a Ludacris song played in the background to highlight her aggression.

"Right! Let's rock and rumble!" Bat-Mite nodded before leaping into action.

Purple smoke soon came out with a shadowed figure behind it.

"So... We meet at last... Whoever you are..." LG glared. "Though I have a hunch."

The smoke then cleared to show it was The Joker with a bigger grin on his face than usual.

"YOU?!?" Bat-Mite gasped in shock.

"Hello, Gotham... Joker's back in town~" The Joker smirked.

The people looked shocked and horrified.

"It can't be..." Bruce whispered.

"Oh, but it is, Brucey," the clown smirked. "You know ME better than ANYONE."

"Back off, Gruesome." A voice said before everyone looked up to see the new Batman flying down in front of the Joker. 

"Ah... The new boy... Ears are too long, and I miss the cape, but not too shabby. Not too shabby at all," The Joker commented. "WOOF!"

Suddenly, Woof sprang up onto the stage and attacked Terry, before Bat-Mite appeared and slammed a trick bone down his throat. He snapped his fingers, and it blew up in his throat, causing a trail of black smoke to come out.

"Let this be a lesson, Fido," Bat-Mite commented. "Don't take bones from strangers!"

Woof staggered and passed out, smoke trailing from his mouth.

"I see you two haven't lost your touch." Joker smirked to Gothika and Bat-Mite.

"I see you haven't found your sanity." Gothika retorted.

"We're still just as tough as we were all those years ago..." Bat-Mite replied.

"Perhaps you'd like to put yourselves to a little test." Joker chuckled.

"Perhaps. Whaddya got in mind?" Bat-Mite asked.

"Why don't I test to see how fast you are?" Joker smirked as he checked his watch before taking out what looked like walkie-talkie and checked in with something before smirking to the twins beside him. "Time to go, ladies~"

The Dee Dee twins nodded and the Joker soon pushed a button which brought out an aircraft, and they all rushed off to make their escape while Bruce had a hard time getting over the shock of seeing The Joker again after so long.

"You stay here; we'll take care of the circus troupe!" Bat-Mite told Terry while he and LG took off after Joker.

Joker grinned as he soon took out a remote and began to cause explosions everywhere.

"Save the people!" Bat-Mite ordered. "We go after the clown!!"

Terry nodded and soon went to take care of the people while Gothika and Bat-Mite went after The Joker and his new friends.

"I dunno HOW ya came back, but you WON'T be doing it again!" Bat-Mite growled, becoming his monster form and lunging at the hovercraft.

"I'm afraid a magician like myself doesn't reveal secrets." The Joker replied.

The Dee Dee twins soon leaned over to kick Bat-Mite off of the hovercraft.

But Bat-Mite clung on tightly. "Sorry, ladies, but I've got a GRIP on the situation!" he joked, revealing that his hands were glued to the side of the craft.

"You've been a thorn in my side far too long!" Joker glared to him. "Along with that emo friend of yours!"

Gothika's left eye twitched as she had been labeled as an 'emo'.

"She's! A! PERKY! GOTH!!" Bat-Mite punctuated. "AND YOU'RE A DEAD DUCK!!" he raised his hand, and it grew razor-sharp claws.

"Ooh... Touchy~..." Joker replied.

"You're about to see HOW touchy...when I slice ya to ribbons!" Bat-Mite growled, slashing his claw at him.

Joker soon began to dodge. The Dee Dee twins then leaned over to try to get rid of Bat-Mite, though they both yelped as they got cut by a claw, each having a scar on their arms.

"Ooh...my apologies, ladies," Bat-Mite shrugged. "But hey, if you get in the way, then expect to get hurt."

"My helpers may be new, but I consider you almost an old friend..." Joker smirked to Bat-Mite. "An old friend who should get lost!"

"Well, with friends like you, who needs enemies?" Bat-Mite smirked before he soon got grumpy and suddenly groused. "The hell with it...we've wasted enough time playing with the clowns..."

"Oh, are you leaving so soon?~" Both Dee Dees smirked.

"Sorry we can't stay; places to go, bad guys to jail, so on," Bat-Mite replied, grabbing LG with his feet and flying off.

"You actually like the small fry?" asked Dee Dee to her sister.

"He's rather interesting actually." The other Dee Dee replied modestly.

"Sure, I guess." the first replied.

Cherry soon came to Bruce, looking relieved that he was okay while Terry looked around while The Joker rode away.

"Good....you're alright...." Bat-Mite sighed with relief. "Let's get back home..." he suggested. "We're definitely gonna need time to figure this out..."

So they left as the people were trying to recompile themselves.

They soon rode away, going with Bruce and Terry just to make sure they would get home okay.

"How.... How did he come BACK?" Lionel pondered in the car. "It's impossible....we SAW him die..."

"That's what I'd like to know..." Bruce replied as he firmly held his cane.

"He looks pretty spry for a guy who's gotta be, what? In his mid-80's." Terry commented.

"Even moreso for a DEAD MAN," Lionel added. "Can't be him... Gotta be some kinda clone... Clone? This is starting to sound like a bad comic-book plot..."

"That feels too cliché." Cherry replied.

"Robot?" Terry suggested. "Perhaps suspended animation due to floating around frozen in a block of ice?"

"No way, man; that's like Saturday-morning-cartoon levels of ridiculousness..." Lionel replied.

They soon pulled up and stopped once they where they were needed to be.

"You two get going now, I don't wanna drag you into this Joker madness." Bruce told Cherry and Lionel.

"We've BEEN dragged into it since we were teens," Lionel replied. "And if he IS back, then no doubt he'll come after all of us."

"We have to help someway... Even if this clown's back." Cherry added softly.

"She's right; we made a vow to combat crime wherever it may lurk." Lionel nodded.

"If you really want to... Don't say I didn't warn you..." Bruce said.

"He's been a major part of my life since I first came to this city." Cherry reminded, a bit stoically.

"Not to mention, we got unfinished business with 'im," Lionel added, "I gotta pay 'im back for the one time he stole my powers."

"All right... I'd just hate to ruin your visit." Bruce said.

"Bruce, this happens all the time, I can basically sleep for an hour and then spring into action after ten seconds." Cherry smirked.

"And I hardly need sleep." Lionel added.

"Just wait 'til you're my age." Bruce smirked.

"We'll see." Lionel smirked, as he and Cherry left.

Bruce waved as he soon had to get going inside with Terry.

"I think I'm starting to grow gray hair now with Joker back..." Cherry muttered as she left with Lionel.

"Seriously? That guy could give ANYBODY gray hair," Lionel replied. "Though personally I never noticed..."

"I've had gray hair since I was 12..." Cherry replied.

"Yeesh..." Lionel commented. "The last time things got this crazy was when I tried giving Batman my powers to fight Joker....unfortunately Joker got in the way, and....things went from bad to worse..."

"Yes, yes, I know... That wasn't a pretty story..." Cherry replied. "Then again, if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't become the superhero I became after my other visits to Gotham City."

"So...blessing in disguise..." Lionel shrugged.


	4. Chapter 4

The next night, the duo accompanied Terry to that techno-dance club.

"This is so pointless." Cherry muttered almost in a way that could rival Raven of the Teen Titans.

"Ain't everything?" Lionel replied.

"You got me there..." Cherry had to admit. "I guess we'll join the kids..." she then rolled her eyes as she said though, making herself sound old.

Lionel smirked, going with her to join them. Cherry walked in with Lionel as the music boomed in the background while Terry wandered on his own.

"Seems innocent enough so far..." Cherry said while looking around because she knew something would go wrong pretty fast.

Terry found his girlfriend Dana and started dancing with her...until two identical-looking girls approached.

"Hey!" Dana pouted as she was shoved away. She was about to go back to Terry, only to be grabbed by Ghoul.

Terry saw that, shoving the identical girls aside and went to go after Dana to save her.

"All the boys love us," the first twin commented. "We're trouble on the double!" they both said at once.

Lionel's eyes widened. "It's the Dee Dees!"

"Of course they are." Cherry almost deadpanned, though it was most of she should've expected that and not bashing against Bat-Mite for what he said.

"Then let's deal with 'em!" Lionel nodded, dashing into the fray.

"You're both dead." Cherry threatened.

"Bring it, Grandma." The twins taunted.

"NOBODY CALLS MY GIRLFRIEND A GRANDMA!" Lionel growled.

"Oh, is that a problem?" One of the twins smirked.

"She said it." The other twin also smirked, pointing to her sister.

"I don't care..." Lionel growled, throwing down a smoke bomb and turning into Bat-Mite. "Who said it.... You're both gonna get it!"

The twins simply smirked and soon did cartwheels before they both kicked him down.

"You shouldn't have done that, you Clones." Cherry stoically stated.

"Yeah, cuz you can knock me down if ya want, but won't do any good!" Bat-Mite added, before turning into a giant monster and roaring loudly.

"Ooh, a big bad scary monster~" The Dee Dee twins cooed.

Cherry soon grabbed them both by their hair and knocked their heads against each other from right behind them, now turning into LG after a quick costume change.

"Yeah, I'm big, I'm bad, and I'm MAD AS HELL!!" Bat-Mite roared.

The rest of the Jokerz soon came into the scene.

"Waitaminute...what are they doin' here?" Bat-Mite wondered.

"I knew it!" LG glared, shaking her fist. "You clowns are dead and going straight back to the sewer where you belong!"

As Bat-Mite attacked them, he said, "What're you clowns doing here? What business do you have here?" he growled at the twins.

"It's all part of a special plan." The Dee Dees smirked.

Woof soon came out and tackled Bat-Mite.

"Stupid mutt," Bat-Mite growled, electrocuting him. He sighed. "...What do you two want from me?"

"Ah, nothing too important, just a certain old friend wants to see you again after so long." Dee Dee replied innocently.

"Gee, I'm SO honored." Bat-Mite snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you will be, and so will he." Dee Dee smirked.

Bat-Mite glared, swiping at them with his claws. The Dee Dee twins backed off, but they giggled to Bat-Mite.

"Annoying brats." Bat-Mite snarled.

Cherry soon whacked the Dee Dee twins, knocking them out with a frying pan and they both landed on top of each other. "How's that for a grandma?" she then mocked.

"Nice moves!" Bat-Mite nodded.

"Thanks," Cherry replied. "I guess it's true what they say. A frying pan is perfect as both a weapon and a cooking utensil."

"Plenty of cartoons have taught us THAT." Lionel nodded.

"Ah, thank you." Cherry bowed with her frying pan.

A lava lamp soon appeared to be tilting and was about to fall and crash over. Lionel quickly rushed over to hold it up. Cherry stepped out of the way and looked over with him. Eventually, he managed to push it back into place.

"That was close." Cherry said thankfully.

"I could've done that." Terry said.

"Well, why didn't ya, sonny?" Cherry teased.

"Rule number one: try to keep up with the classics, rookie." Bat-Mite replied.

"Hmph." Terry huffed to them.

"But wait... What did the Jokerz want here?" asked Bat-Mite.

"Ah, yeah," Cherry smirked. "Interrogation time."

The group soon tried to get away.

"Ah-ah-ah, no you don't!" Bat-Might snapped, trapping them. "What did you little delinquents even WANT here?"

"What's it to ya?" Ghoul replied, sassily.

"What it IS, is my business," Bat-Might snapped. "And if YOU don't tell, well...I suppose I could just toss your miserable bodies from the roof."

"You wouldn't dare!" Ghoul sneered.

"Try me! Do you KNOW who I am, punk?" Bat-Mite growled in a deep tone.

Cherry stood beside him with crossed arms. The Dee Dee twins gasped before growling to Cherry.

"You better talk... Unless ya punks feel lucky." Cherry replied.

"Well....do ya....punk? I'm the kinda nightmare that makes you wake up screaming in the dead of night for your mother!" Bat-Mite snarled.

"No way!" Ghoul replied.

"Last chance!" Cherry called out. "Don't make me get inside your head!"

"What, you want proof?" Bat-Mite asked. "Guess we'll be going up to the roof, then..."

The Jokerz rolled their eyes at first, but now looked horrified as they were on the roof like in the threat.

"Now let's see if clowns can fly!" Bat-Mite snickered. "Ready to talk?"

"YOU'RE INSANE!" Ghoul cried out. "Fine!"

"This coming from the group inspired by a clown?" Bat-Mite snapped. "Okay then, piggy; best get to squealing."

"Ugh... Fine... We'll tell ya..." Ghoul groaned.

"Then TELL!" Bat-Mite replied. "Before I get impatient!"

"What do you think? We're doing our job." Ghoul replied.

"And what would THAT be?" asked Bat-Mite.

"Take care of ya and your old bat." Ghoul huffed.

"Old...bat....SHIT ON A BRICKHOUSE!!!" Bat-Mite swore. "The little delinquents were a distraction!!"

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Cherry muttered as she felt like she should've expected that.

"We gotta GO, pronto!" Bat-Mite shouted.

"Can we go now?" The Dee Dee twins asked.

"Oh, you can GO, alright...TO THE SLAMMER!" Bat-Mite grinned, showing his rows of sharp teeth.

The Dee Dee twins let out yelps.

"I'm sure a certain woman in your lives would love to hear about this." Cherry smirked to them.

"Yeah! She is gonna be PISSED! I bet she grounds the both of ya! And the lot of you will probably get sent to juvie!" Bat-Mite grinned.

The Dee Dee twins glanced to each other.

"Now then, off you go... Until you get grounded for eternity." Cherry gave a malicious smirk.

Bat-Might glanced at her. "Time to go, LG. We gotta hurry, fast!!" he explained.

"Fair enough," Cherry replied. "Let's hit the road then."

Bat-Mite picked her up with his talons, and they headed back to Wayne Manor with Terry.

"See ya!" Cherry called out to the Jokerz.

"Wouldn't wannabe ya!" Bat-Mite added.

Eventually, they arrived in the Batcave.

"Oh, no..." Lionel gasped, looking at the place.

"Whoa..." Cherry frowned. "I feel like my inner child's been kicked."

There seemed to be graffiti of 'HA'S' everywhere along with some clown cards. No points for guessing who could had done this.

"Bruce? Are you in here?" Cherry called out before running inside of the Bat Cave.

"Bruce! BRUCE!!!" yelled Lionel, before seeing the blood-red HA on the wall. "Oh, please, God, no..." he gasped.

Cherry soon found Bruce and rushed to him before turning his body around to show a manic grin as he had been struck by the Joker himself.

"HOLY SHIT!!!" Lionel gasped. "Is...is he....?"

"Please... No..." Cherry begged.

"Guys?" A voice asked before they turned to see that it was Terry.

"Terry? Trust me when I say you don't wanna see this..." Lionel replied, before feeling a pulse.

"Lionel, please tell me he isn't... Dead..." Cherry begged as Bruce was like a second father to her.

"No... Not yet; he's alive, but... Just barely," Lionel replied, a ghost of a smile appearing. "We'll need to get the antidote to him."

Cherry shivered slightly in concern. Bruce was soon heard laughing, but it was against his will until he tried to point to a table for them to go to.

"That must be where the antidote is!" Lionel realized. "We gotta get it!"

"Come on, we gotta help him!" Cherry replied as she rushed over before holding her stomach. "Ooh... I think I ate too much or something..." she then said, a little woozy from running.

Lionel helped her up as they walked to the table to get the antidote; afterwards, they went back and gave Bruce the antidote.

"Oh... Bruce..." Cherry said, sounding emotional.

The antidote was soon injected and Bruce let out a gasp before he seemed to pass out briefly.

"We gotta get him upstairs and to a hospital, pronto." Terry explained, as Lionel tried to hold back his tears.

"Please... Just let him live..." Cherry said.

"He mean a lot to you, huh?" Terry asked.

"He's basically like my second father." Cherry replied.

"Not to mention he's the one dude I looked up to the most..." Lionel added. "I based my entire alter ego on Batman, but Bruce was who I looked up to; if anything happened to him..."

"I'm sure he'll be all right." Terry said to them.

"If we're lucky..." Lionel replied.

They soon moved Bruce and called the hospital right away. After Bruce had been taken to the hospital, Lionel flopped down on the ground and started chugging a beer. Cherry came to see a doctor as she had a strange feeling and decided to get it checked out.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Lionel finished off six bottles, Cherry eventually came outside.

"So... What's the verdict?" asked Lionel, too sad to be drunk, but not drunk enough to ignore his sadness.

"Um... Well..." Cherry said softly. "It appear to be pregnant again."

Lionel's stubble shot right off his face. "S-Seriously?" he gasped. "That... That's AMAZING!!!"

"I guess that explains why I haven't felt like myself lately." Cherry said as she put her hands together.

"Considering all the crazy shit we're going through now... That's the best news I've heard all month," Lionel beamed. "C'mon, let's get home. I know someone we can talk to tomorrow."

"All right... I just hope Bruce will be okay..." Cherry replied. "You know how much he means to me."

Lionel nodded. "Hell yeah. Hopefully, he'll be alright just in time to see the little guy be born." he replied, as they headed home.

"I really hope so..." Cherry replied. "I guess I ought to tell Selina anyway... She's family too."

"Sure, why not?" Lionel asked.

The next day, they and Terry stopped by the police station to talk with the new Commissioner Barbara Gordon. Cherry tried to calm herself down as she was going through quite a literal emotional roller-coaster ride. Lionel clasped her hand as they went inside.

"I'm sorry..." Cherry said. "I just have a million things going through my mind right now."

"Not every creep in Gotham wears a purple suit." Terry remarked.

"Nice to see ya too, kid." Cherry managed to say.

"Would make my job a helluva lot easier if they did." Barbara replied.

"Is Bruce okay?" Cherry asked Barbara, feeling on edge. "PLEASE TELL ME!"

"Cherry, calm yourself," Barbara told her. "He's doing fine, but it'll take time for him to recover. At least a week." she added.

"The Joker... He knew about Bruce...and me...and small fry and the goth..." Terry explained. "You think he knew about you, too?"

"Someone knows, I'll give you that... But it's not the Joker," Barbara replied. "Not the real one."

"Bruce said he was dead," Terry explained.

"And?" Barbara asked.

"That's it. I know there's more," Terry replied. "I need the answers he can't give us. We deserve those answers."

Barbara looked over before slinking towards the window. "I thought talking about it would get easier within time, but somehow, it never goes away..." she said with a sigh as she looked out into the city. "Dick Grayson, Nightwing, had left to establish himself in another city. There were five of us then: Bruce, myself, Cherry and Lionel of course, and Robin, Tim Drake."

"Ah, you had to bring that up." Cherry let out a small sigh from the memory.

"Apart from that... Those were the weird days," Lionel replied. "Remember Mary Dahl?"

"You had to bring her up..." Cherry hid a small shudder. "...Though, I felt a little bad for her at the same time."

"I honestly hope that she got better," Lionel sighed. "But still: I was with Tim that night. The both of us were on patrol..."

It flashed back to Gotham City of the past, showing Tim Drake standing atop a building with Bat-Mite, with LG standing behind them casually.

"A quiet, moonlit night in Gotham City," Bat-Mite monologued out loud. "And so far, no sign of any sinister activities."

"HELP! Somebody, please, help!" A voice cried out.

Two goons were shown going up towards a woman like they were going to mug her.

"Ahoy! A crime in progress!" Bat-Mite glared. "Time to dish out a hot serving of justice!"

"Hero Time!" Tim nodded as he soon went off with Bat-Mite.

"I'm getting too old for this..." Lady Gothika muttered before she took out what looked like a tiny bottle of wine before she lifted her head back and began to gulp it down.

Tim tripped up one of the thugs, and Bat-Mite body-slammed the other.

"Primo pummeling, Boy Wonder!" Bat-Mite commended.

"That evens things up a little." Tim replied.

"Not really, Bird Boy!" The woman smirked, taking out a mallet as she revealed her true self as Harley Quinn as she soon whacked at Tim. 

"Ah... I thought I heard a high-pitched dog whistle." Lady Gothika muttered before she hiccuped a bit since she just had a drink.

"Wretched clown!" Bat-Mite growled, standing over Tim's body. "I won't letcha take him!"

"A bird in the hand..." Joker chuckled darkly as he soon came out.

"Heeey... It's Mr. Jaaaay..." Lady Gothika slurred out. "Hey, Mr. Jaaaay...?"

"Good Lord, you're already drunk." Joker grimaced to her as even he found it vile of her to be drinking on the job. 

"No, you are!" Lady Gothika glared.

Bat-Mite sighed. "Cripes... Couldn't you have waited 'til we got home? This is killing our credibility..."

Lady Gothika muttered like she were imitating him as Batman was coming by to help them out.

"Do NOT take that tone with me, ESPECIALLY not now!!" Bat-Mite yelled.

"Waha!" Lady Gothika replied.

"We soon realized the others were missing..." Barbara's voice narrated. "Night-after-night, we scoured the city... Luckily, we found Lady Gothika and Bat-Mite before anything happened."

"You guys okay?" Batgirl asked the two.

Lady Gothika looked to them.

"...LG?" Batgirl asked.

Lady Gothika soon grunted and seemed to throw up right then and there.

"We would've saved Tim... If she wasn't drunk off her ass!" Bat-Mite snapped.

"You and I are going to talk about this in the morning." Batman firmly told Lady Gothika.

"Shut up, Bruce, you're not my dad!" Lady Gothika garbled.

"We don't have time for this bullshit!" Bat-Mite growled, smashing the bottle. "We're gonna go home, and tomorrow we're gonna start searching. We're in no shape to start tonight."

Lady Gothika blew a raspberry to them since she was drunk. Luckily, the other nights came and she was more competent and cooperative. Bat-Mite, however, was more angry and focused, his bravado gone. They seemed to have nothing but bad luck in finding Tim.

One rainy day, they came to a roof top and found what looked like a jack-in-the-box.

"It has to be a trap." Lady Gothika muttered.

"No shit, Sherlock." Bat-Mite snapped angrily.

Lady Gothika gave him a look with a light growl. 

"If YOU hadn't been drunk off your ass..." Bat-Mite snapped, tossing a batarang at the box. "Then Tim would still be here!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I felt stressed out!" Lady Gothika replied. 

"You got stress? Deal with it on your OWN time!!" Bat-Mite replied. "I told you it was a bad idea to DRINK WHILE WE WERE ON PATROL!!!"

"Argh!" Lady Gothika grumbled. 

A bomb soon came out and they all jumped out of the way as it exploded. Batman and Batgirl inspected the straitjacket found in the explosion. 

"Arkham..." Batman noted. "Let's all try to stay sober on duty this time."

"I said sorry!" Lady Gothika replied.

"I told you to never drink when on the job," Batman told her. "As long as you act like a little girl, I'm going to treat you like one." 

"Well, SORRY isn't gonna get Tim back!" Bat-Mite yelled. "I shoulda just gone after 'im myself."

"Come on, no time to argue." Batman told them both. 

Bat-Mite nodded. "Cuz of this, who KNOWS what coulda happened to the little guy? We were supposed to PROTECT HIM!!!" he sighed.

"I guess it's my fault... A-And the stress of doing this while balancing some schoolwork... I just... I just... I think I overwhelmed myself." Lady Gothika said as she was now almost crying. 

"To be fair, I guess I'm also at fault. I could've done something to stop Joker... But I got too caught up in our argument, like a true jackass," Bat-Mite sighed. "Some protector of justice I turned out to be..."

Lady Gothika sniffled from her crying. 

Bat-Mite patted her shoulder consolingly. "I'm sorry..."

"I love school... I really do... I just... I just..." Lady Gothika replied. "It's... It's too much! I can't do it!" she then cried out. "I wanna make my parents proud of me for going to college, but I just can't do it! I'm really smart, and I can take care of myself, but I just can't do it anymore!" she then blurted out about her anxiety, not with the Joker, but with her other life. 

"I KNOW," Bat-Mite replied, hugging her even more. "But sometimes, you can't live up to everyone's expectations. Sometimes, all you can be is yourself. I do THAT every day.... Maybe you oughta start, too."

"What're you saying?" Lady Gothika asked. "I should tell them I don't wanna do it anymore?" 

"I'm saying, you gotta do stuff at your OWN pace," Lionel replied as himself. "Know your limits, and don't overwork yourself. The key to failure is trying to please everyone. Ironically, Bill Cosby said that."

"That's true... He did..." Lady Gothika sniffled as she remembered that from early childhood. "I just want them to be proud of me... But... Balancing this work and schoolwork... I just wanna go home and take like a mental health year or something." 

"Then DO THAT!!" Bat-Mite replied. "I'll even help you with it!"

Lady Gothika stared at the floor, she then wiped her eyes with a small sniffle before feeling better. "Okay..." 

"That's the spirit," Bat-Mite smiled. "Now let's go kick some villain ass! Besides, we're here!"

"All right, let's do it." Lady Gothika smirked back once she returned to focus.

They headed into the ruins of Arkham.

"Arkham had been moved to a new building, and the old one had been left hanging open, like a rotting wound." Barbara narrated.

And the four heroes entered the abandoned Asylum, hearing what sounded like faint singing.

"Feels like something out of a horror flick...." Bat-Mite shivered.

"I feel like I'm living in a Stephen King novel." Lady Gothika added.

"Never liked that guy's work. Especially that one about the freaky clown monster..." Bat-Mite shuddered.

Lady Gothika suddenly stopped and her left eye seemed to twitch upon hearing someone not liking Stephen King.

"Honestly, the guy himself is okay, I'm sure, but his work just keeps me up at night," Bat-Mite added. "Saw both IT films AND read the book. Goodbye to a year of sleeping!"

"Okay, that I can respect..." Lady Gothika replied. "Sorry, I know we have our own differences and opinions... Just had a high school flashback right there. Anyway, this is creepier than my bedroom."

"Fair enough." Bat-Mite nodded as they entered the room labelled "OPERATING THEATER" and finally saw...Harley, wearing an apron and singing "Hush Little Baby" while arranging a vase on the table.

"Uh...?" Lady Gothika blinked rapidly.

"Pud'n! Company!" Harley announced.

"Hello, there~" The Joker grinned as he set down his newspaper and soon came down to see them. "Welcome to our happy home."

"Happy home, my hairy nards," Bat-Mite muttered. "Take the formalities and shove 'em up your ass, Napier."

"Where's Robin?" Batman growled.

"Robin?" Joker replied, looking confused with Harley. "There's no Robin here..."

"Maybe he means our little J?" Harley replied.

"Of course! That's it!" Joker grinned, snapping his fingers in realization before pointing to behind a curtain.

Batman stomped towards the curtain, but Harley took out a bazooka and shot at Batman, trapping him in wrapping paper.

"Mommy's little helper~!" Harley beamed.

"We're not asking again. Where. Is. ROBIN?!" Bat-Mite growled the last part, smashing the table under his fist.

Batgirl got ready to help, but Batman had her stay put.

"You know, Bats, we've been doing this runabout for years," Joker replied after kissing Harley on the cheek. "It's been loads of laughs, but the sad fact is, none of us are getting any younger, except for Baby Bat who seems to never age from being a graceful school student into a gorgeous young woman."

"She has aged phenomenally." Bat-Mite commented.

"Though, my clock's a-tickin'!" Harley smiled as she patted her own stomach, referring to her biological clock which was a woman's way of saying she wanted to have children.

"Quite right, poo." Joker replied.

"I don't think the world is ready for a spawn of yours." Lady Gothika said to Harley Quinn and The Joker.

"Well, Harley and I were thinking that it was time to start a family, so we brought little Joker Jr to our little brood." Joker grinned.

"But rather than go through all the 'joy' of childbirth, we decided to adopt." Harley added.

"No person with even a 50th of a brain would let YOU two nutburgers adopt a kid!" Bat-Mite replied.

"Oh, well, we couldn't do it legally, then we remembered Batman always had a few spare kids running around... So we 'borrowed' one..." Joker grinned as he came with Harley to the curtains.

"No..." Lady Gothika's face paled right then.

Batman gasped in shock.

"No....NO!!!" Bat-Mite howled, angry tears coming to his eyes.

"My God..." Batgirl muttered.

"He needed a little molding of course, what kid doesn't? But in time, we came to love him as our own," The Joker smirked. "Say hello, JJ."

And then, the worst happened. From the shadows, emerged a lookalike of Joker, except short, pale-eyed, and laughing in a creepy, emotionally-dead manner.

"DAMN YOU!!!" Bat-Mite roared. "I'M....I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"

Batman soon ripped out of the ribbons he was stuck in and tossed his knife at the Joker which just ducked without getting hit. The Joker soon laughed manically himself before taking a remote and pushing the button as he got onto the slab while the mini Joker was with Harley after Batman tried to grab a hold of him.

"I'm going after him." Batman scowled as he took off.

"Looks like it's up to us!" Bat-Mite sighed.

"Not just us, but a special friend of ours." Lady Gothika replied.

"And who would that be?" Harley asked.

"I'd watch out if I were you." Lady Gothika smirked.

Batgirl was soon swinging by and kicked Harley into a pile of blocks.

"Ha-HA! Good shot!" Bat-Mite whooped. "You're also involved, so you're dead too, clown!"

Lady Gothika tried to grab the boy. "Robin, it's LG, can you hear me?"

The only response she got was hyperactive laughter.

"I think he's gone." Lady Gothika frowned.

"He's in there somewhere..." Bat-Mite growled. "But we can figure that out later. I got a clown who needs a serious pummeling....and that's for his little lapdog, too!"

Batgirl tried to help Lady Gothika out with Tim, but it seemed to be nearly hopeless as he didn't seem to know them anymore.

"Wakey wakey, Harley. It's pain-o'clock!" Bat-Mite growled.

"Ah, if it isn't the Baby Bat's boy toy?" Harley scoffed.

"Well, newsflash, Quinzelle: this toy plays ROUGH!!" Bat-Mite cackled, making his left fist gigantic.

"Oh, bring it on then!" Harley smirked. "I didn't think Baby Bat even liked boys, she seemed to hate men, especially Mr. J."

"Anybody with a brain would hate him," Bat-Mite snapped. "But hey, I guess that rules YOU out."

"Ah, you're in for it now!" Harley glared as she grabbed her mallet and soon chased after him. "I'm gonna pop me a weasel!"

"This just in: this weasel is gonna pop YOU!!" Bat-Mite roared, smashing the mallet.

"MY MALLET!" Harley shrieked. "YOU BROKE MY FAVORITE TOY!"

"You messed up my pal's brain," Bat-Mite replied. "And now you're NEXT!!" he roared as he transformed into his monster-mite form.

"Like you'd kill me!" Harley replied. "Ya wouldn't do that, would ya?!"

"Well..." Bat-Monster shrugged. "You crossed the line when you took my friend. I'm just returning the favor!!"

"You're sick!" Harley replied.

"Oh, and you're not?!" Lady Gothika glared.

Bat-Monster raised his hand, and razor-sharp claws popped out from his fingers. "Maybe I won't kill Joker yet. Maybe I'll clone myself, and let the little wiseguy have his way with you while I make Napier watch. And then, when his little lapdog is, shall we say, domesticated, then I will finish him off. Besides, he was married before he went crazy from falling into that acid!" he explained devilishly.

Harley's eyes widened to that. "Baby Bat, control your man!"

Lady Gothika blinked once and soon turned her head in a snooty fashion.

"You had this coming for a LONG time, Quinn!" Bat-Monster cackled as Harley scurried for her life. "That's right, RUN! It's going to make hunting you down ALL THE MORE SATISFYING!!!" he called out.

"Sweetie, get Mommy's bazooka!" Harley called to Tim as she ran off.

"No, you're on our side, remember?!" Lady Gothika told Tim. 

Tim soon went to get the bazooka, seeming to ignore her and only listen to Harley.

"Dammit..." Bat-Monster growled. "As if we didn't already have problems big enough. We're going after 'er."

Lady Gothika soon got up and went to go and stop Tim. Tim looked at her as he kept going, running a bit to get Harley her bazooka.

"You best leave him alone, Baby Bat!" Harley mocked with a smirk, holding her back.

"NO!!" Bat-Monster shouted, as he turned the bazooka into... A water-balloon launcher.

"How dare you?!" Harley glared.

Lady Gothika then grabbed Harley by her arms and flung her forward against the wall.

"You...are SO lunchmeat, Harley..." Bat-Monster growled as he approached. "Every game comes to an end."

Harley soon leapt from a table, and rushed out the doors, running down one side as the others came to her, but she was running outside now.

"Why'd you do it, Harley?" Batgirl asked as she and the others stepped outside. "You took an innocent child and you MESSED UP HIS BRAIN!!"

"Okay, so he roughed the kid up a little, but I'll make it right." Harley replied as she was hiding.

"Yeah," Batgirl scoffed. "You're Mother of the stinkin' Year!"

"Ah, you'll see," Harley replied. "We'll be one big happy family!"

"If you really believe that..." Bat-Mite scoffed, turning back to normal. "Then you're as stupid as you look."

"Is that right?" Harley grinned as she was hiding from them as they looked for her in the rain.

"Better believe it," Bat-Mite snapped. "Joker cares for nobody but himself."

"Tell me more." Harley smirked as she came up right behind them with a huge rock in her arms.

"I'm surprised you haven't stopped listening by this point... Oh, you sly broad, you got me monologuing!" Bat-Mite realized as he zapped the rock, turning it into a cotton ball.

"Wah!" Harley yelped to that.

"Did you really think that would work?" Lady Gothika asked Harley. "I can see your time spent with The Joker downsized your brain a little."

"Dammit!" Harley pouted.

"I can't believe I ever liked you..." Bat-Mite spat coldly.

"You have good taste, I'll give ya that." Harley replied.

"Yeah...cuz I got Lady Gothika with me." Bat-Mite replied as Tim returned with a second bazooka.

"What?!" Lady Gothika glared. "You better have stolen that bazooka from Crash Bandicoot!"

"Good boy." Harley smirked to Tim.

Tim soon tossed the bazooka up to Harley as Batgirl ran to him.

"Dammit, Tim!" Bat-Mite yelled.

Harley soon caught the bazooka and shot at them as Tim ran out of the way. The heroes dodged and leapt away from the shots, until Batgirl knocked the bazooka out of her hand, knocking Harley over, causing it to fire and blow up part of the scaffolding.

"Dang..." Lady Gothika whispered.

Someone soon jumped down with them. "Shadow Wolf is here to--"

"Wrong universe!" Lady Gothika and Bat-Mite told her.

Shadow Wolf blinked and soon disappeared.

"Ugh... I hate my fandoms..." Lady Gothika groaned.

"Who the hell was that?" asked Bat-Mite.

"I... I don't wanna talk about it..." Lady Gothika sighed sharply. "Why did I start writing on the internet? I should've just kept my stories to myself in my old school notebooks."

"Well, if you did THAT, then we would've never met!" Bat-Mite replied.

"...I guess that's true." Lady Gothika commented to that.

Suddenly the floor piece broke, causing Harley and Batgirl to fall.

"BG!" Lady Gothika gasped for Batgirl as she tried to help the girl.

Bat-Mite grew his wings out and soared down to retrieve his friend. "Hang on, Batgirl!" Bat-Mite called out.

Batgirl yelped as she was falling with Harley until she was soon saved by Bat-Mite. Bat-Mite flapped and flapped until he flew Batgirl to safety.

"Thanks, Bat-Mite." Batgirl sighed in relief.

"No problem." Bat-Mite said to her in equal relief.

"And what about Harley Quinn?" Batgirl asked.

Bat-Mite sighed. "Fine..." he flew down to get her.

"She doesn't deserve to die." Batgirl said to Bat-Mite.

"You're right... As usual." Lady Gothika rolled her eyes.

"Alright..." Bat-Mite sighed. "This might sound cliche, but....come with me if you want to live."

"Gosh, I didn't think ya cared." Harley sounded touched.

"Big deal...even I'm not heartless." Bat-Mite replied with a small blush.

"Well... Thank ya," Harley said. "Don't think this means we're friends now though."

"Believe me, I don't." Bat-Mite replied.

"Good..." Harley nodded. "But, uh, thank ya for saving my life anyways."

"Just don't get cute." Lady Gothika warned her.

"Meh, I'll see what I can do, Baby Bat." Harley smirked.

Bat-Mite rolled his eyes. "Better watch yourself, Quinn." he replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see what I can do." Harley replied.

"Alright," Bat-Mite sighed. "That's the most we can hope for. We can probably check in with Annie later..."

"Meh, nobody's perfect." Harley replied.

"True, true." Bat-Mite nodded.

"'Specially your girlfriend who gets drunk." Harley smirked.

"I was stressed from college!" Lady Gothika glared.

"I thought you were a Smarty Pants," Harley smirked. "What're you so scared of from college?" 

Lady Gothika sighed as she bowed her head. "Letting my family down..."

"Like you would know..." Bat-Mite snapped. "Get going before I change my mind."

Lady Gothika glanced over to Harley.

"See ya around." Harley giggled before she began to make her exit.

"Hopefully under better circumstances." Bat-Mite replied as Harley left.

Lady Gothika let out a small sigh as failing college really got to her during this visit, and not even a vacation to Gotham City could cheer her up as college wasn't going as well as she had hoped it would. "I don't know what's wrong... I'm a young woman, I should move out and just be happy, but... I don't know if I can still go to my classes after this..." she then sighed to herself. "Maybe I'm not as smart as I think I am."

"Hey... Don't go doubting yourself," Bat-Mite urged. "In the long run, you gotta go with whatever makes you happy. Maybe go on a journey of self-discovery?"

Lady Gothika just looked to him with a soft sigh.

Bat-Mite hugged her. "Tell ya what; afterwards, you can decide what you wanna do." he explained.

"Okay..." Lady Gothika said softly. "I guess the anxiety led to drinking in the student lounge... It was hard to talk with my parents sometimes on the phone at night or whenever I would come home for a break."

"Damn... That's gotta be tough." Bat-Mite replied. "I gotta feeling that after this case, I'll have more time to help."

"I guess so..." Lady Gothika said with a small sigh. "Come on, let's get back to Batman."

With a nod, they headed back inside to help Batman.

The Joker's laughter was heard as he tormented Batman for his own sick, twisted amusement.

"That bastard..." Bat-Mite growled. "We gotta move faster!"

"JOKER?!" Lady Gothika snarled.

"Ah, hello there, Baby Bat." The Joker smirked.

"You're deli meat, clown." Bat-Mite growled.

"Ooh..." Lady Gothika soon noticed something. "They're both bleeding."

"Must've been a serious beating." Bat-Mite remarked.

"You could say that, yes..." The Joker smirked. "And I'm very close to finishing the job."

"You don't have to kill him!" Lady Gothika replied. "He'd never kill you!"

"And that's what kept him at large all these years!" Bat-Mite replied as Tim came in with a gun.

"You've lost, Batman. Robin is mine," Joker smirked. "Go ahead, son; make them one of us."

"Don't!" Lady Gothika begged. "Please!"

"Oh, you are so cute when you're depressed." Joker laughed to her.

Tim laughed as he soon got ready to shoot.

"Damn." Batman muttered.

But then...Tim threw the gun aside.

"YES!" Bat-Mite grinned. "I knew he was still in there somewhere!"

Tim was still laughing, but he seemed to be still with the good guys, despite his new forced lifestyle. 

"I guess the shoe is on the other hand." Lady Gothika told the Joker as she picked up the gun.

"Baby Bat... You wouldn't shoot me, would you?" Joker asked. "I thought you hated guns!"

"...I do... But more than anything... I hate you..." Lady Gothika narrowed her eyes and she soon shot right at him in his chest.

And Bat-Mite rushed him, shoving him into a bunch of scientific equipment, shattering it.

"That's not funny!" Joker snapped, as he got tangled in the wires.

"See you in Hell, Jack Napier!" Bat-Mite snapped, as Joker slipped on the liquid and yanked down a lever, electrocuting himself with an ear-splitting scream of pain.

Tim's laughter soon faded out and he ended up breaking down in tears as Batgirl came to see him and comforted him the best that she could. Lady Gothika soon set the gun down and put her face in her hands as she had a lot going on through her mind with school and fighting crime whenever she had time off from college. She just couldn't do it as well anymore as she used to from when she was in high school. Not to mention the many adventures she had in other worlds or universes.

"Whoa... Anybody order the fried clownfish?" Bat-Mite remarked as he helped Batman to his feet.

Lady Gothika was crying herself from her stress.

"Ah... Come here..." Batman said as he put his arm around her as she looked miserable from her anxiety.

"Let's get outta here..." Bat-Mite sighed as they left Arkham.

Batman did his best to hold Lady Gothika as she had a lot on her mind.

"We buried the Joker deep beneath Gotham," Barbara narrated. "The only other people who knew what happened that night were my father, the first Commissioner Gordon, and Cherry's parents. They promised to keep our secret. With his last act of cruelty, the Joker had tainted us all of compromise and deception," she then took off her glasses to rub her eyes wearily. "I suppose he had the last laugh after all."

"After that, the Batfamily disbanded: Bruce became more reclusive, Barbara was forbidden from being Batgirl, and Tim was put in a mental hospital. Annie, a former extension of Clayface, came to visit him whenever she could, and did her best to help him get better," Lionel added. "And I... Well, since I couldn't be Bat-Mite anymore, I dedicated my time to helping Cherry out with her problems."

Cherry was soon home from college for another break and showed her homework to her parents.

"Cherry, your grades seem to be slipping... This isn't like you..." Michelle said. "Aren't you studying?"

"Yes." Cherry said shallowly.

Lionel glanced at Cherry. "Go ahead... Tell them." he whispered.

Cherry looked back and stared at the floor.

"Don't you like your new school?" Bud asked.

"Yeah... It's great..." Cherry said in a shaky voice, though she looked like she was going to break down.

"Then why aren't you doing your best?" Michelle asked.

"BECAUSE I HATE NOT LIVING AT HOME ANYMORE!" Cherry soon wailed.

Lionel sat nearby, listening in. "Go for it, Cherry; better late than never." he smiled.

Cherry soon broke down crying which concerned her parents. "Mama, Daddy, I'm sorry, I tried so hard to stick it out, but it's just my other responsibilities get in the way of my studying, and I just don't know if I'm ready for this!" she then told them. "I know I'll be the first in the family with my own college degree, but I don't think I can do it right now! Can I please stay with you until I get back on my feet? I don't wanna go back to that dorm! I miss you guys on the weekend, and I miss my own room!"

"Oh, Cher Bear... Of course you can stay home," Michelle cooed. "You can stay with us for however long you would like."

Cherry sniffled. "I can...?"

"Of course you can!" Bud replied.

Lionel poked his head inside. "Afternoon, Michelle, Bud. Izzis a bad time?" he asked.

"Oh, Lionel, come on in, we were just talking." Michelle smiled.

"Really? What about?" Lionel asked as he came inside.

"Cherry might not be coming back to school for a while..." Michelle said. "I think she needs some time off to find herself."

"Oh... Sounds like a nice idea," Lionel replied. "Everyone needs time to figure things out sometimes!"

"Is it okay to cry?" Cherry asked.

"Of course, sweetheart," Michelle soothed her daughter. "Don't let your feelings bottle up like that. Here, let me see if we have some creme soda in the fridge."

"Sounds nice!" Lionel smiled.

Cherry soon began to have some hiccups as she let out her emotions to her parents.

"Of course, we're gonna have to go back to your dorm and get your stuff." Bud told Cherry.

Cherry gave a small nod while hiccuping.

"Naturally, one thing led to another." Lionel continued.

"I don't think I've seen that Cherry lady have any other emotion besides aggression or moodiness." Terry commented.

"Hey, she can be nice when she wants to be," Lionel replied. "I know that for certain."

"So, is there anything else?" Terry then asked. "What about the Joker's girlfriend?"

"She dropped out of the crime game shortly after," Lionel replied. "Met a nice guy, had a family."

"That's the last we've heard anyway," Barbara added. "I doubt she'll try anything evil again."

"It was a cold and dark time that night..." Cherry said as she soon came over to see them. "Tim was also asked to never become Robin again after that once he got himself straightened out."

"Yeah...Bruce didn't want to risk a rerun of what happened that night." Lionel added.

"He blamed himself for what had happened and swore he would never endanger another young partner," Barbara nodded. "Tim soon left us after that, determined to make it on his own."

"Did they ever patch things up?" Terry asked.

"Tim tried once or twice, but you know Bruce," Barbara replied. "I check up on Tim now and then, he's a top-level Communications Engineer, married, a couple of kids. Not too bad of things around."

"Good for him," Lionel replied. "Least he managed to put himself back together."

"He deserved a happy ending," Terry added before looking to Cherry and Lionel. "You guys too, huh?"

"A few bumps here and there, but we're mostly happy," Cherry replied. "Especially since my aunt moved in with us to help stay on the path of good and help us look after our own little ones."

"Yeah, and we got another on the way." Lionel smiled.

"Apparently so..." Cherry said as that was recent news. "Also, the occasional visits from my daughter."

"Don't you mean 'our' daughter?" Terry replied.

"No, my daughter," Cherry said. "Lionel isn't Felicity's father."

"Long story," Lionel replied. "Regardless, I still consider her part of the family."

"I see..." Terry replied. "I suppose I should check in with this Tim Drake fellow."

"Alright, good idea." Lionel replied.

"Would you guys like to come too?" Terry offered to Cherry and Lionel.

"I haven't seen him in so long..." Cherry admitted.

"Might be nice catching up!" Lionel replied.

"All right," Terry replied. "Come with me then."


	6. Chapter 6

They soon went to get going to go and see Tim after a very long time since their last encounter, but with Terry as a brand new different kind of Batman.

"Boy...it's gonna be weird seeing Tim again after all these years," Lionel remarked.

"I think I need to sit down." Cherry replied as she was overwhelmed, but not in a very negative way.

"At this rate anybody would be overwhelmed by how crazy this is getting." Lionel commented.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Terry asked Cherry.

"I'll be fine... I just need to breathe for a minute." Cherry said.

"That's fair." Lionel replied.

"Thanks, Lionel..." Cherry said to him. "I just hope this doesn't end badly like when that Black Velvet chick from the Loonatics adventure tries to corrupt Felicity into being a villain." 

"Loonatics, huh?" Terry asked.

"They're the descendants of the Looney Tunes in the year 2772," Cherry told him. "They're very good friends of her and my godniece and nephews from Atticus and Mo."

"Same here.." Lionel replied. "But if she's tempted, I know LJ and Zofia will do their best to help her fight against it."

"You sound like you have a nice family." Terry commented to them.

"Yeah, they're definitely a great bunch." Lionel nodded.

"Uh, sorry for thinking you're just gloomy." Terry said to Cherry.

"Ah, fuggetabout it," Cherry replied. "It happens to everyone who meets me for the first time. Except Atticus, he was insistent on being my friend."

"Same here!" Lionel replied.

"Yeah, you too, I guess." Cherry hid a small smirk.

"And I'm alright with that!" Lionel beamed.

"Could I maybe have a turkey sandwich?" Cherry asked. "I'm suddenly hungry."

"Of course." Barbara said as she went to go get one for her.

Eventually, the trio headed out.

Tim was working as the others snuck around in their Bat family identities. "Might as well show yourselves; I sensed you a mile away." he commented, and Terry disabled his stealth mode.

"You were always the smart one." Lady Gothika teased.

"I'm no Boy Wonder anymore, but that training never goes away." Tim replied.

"You can say that again." Lady Gothika said to him.

"Good to see ya, Tim." Bat-Mite smiled.

"You two haven't changed much," Tim replied. "Especially you, Cherry."

"I wanted to apologize...about what happened," Bat-Mite replied.

"You mean when Cherry got drunk?" Tim asked.

"I was not drunk!" Cherry replied. "I was... Sober challenged!"

"That and not being able to help you..." Bat-Mite added. "I've been living with that guilt for years now."

"Oh, it's all right, no trouble." Tim reassured.

"If you say so..." Bat-Mite replied.

"I was surprised about the Joker's reappearance though, I'll give you that." Terry said as he worked.

"Same," Tim nodded. "Barb told you the gory details?"

"More or less." Bat-Mite replied.

"Look, it's been almost 40 years, but I managed to put it to bed and go on with my life," Tim explained. "And someday, so will you. We ALL did."

"Has it really been 40 years...?" Lady Gothika asked, a little uneasily.

"Almost." Bat-Mite replied.

"Oh, my..." Lady Gothika soon sighed as she suddenly felt old.

"Yeah....anyway, thanks, Tim." Bat-Mite replied as they got back in the Batwing.

"I just hope someday you guys manage to put away your costumes and move on with your lives..." Tim said with a sharp sigh.

"Maybe... Maybe not." Bat-Mite replied.

"We all did," Tim replied. "We gave our best, but in the end, it wasn't good enough."

"Regrets, Mr. Drake?" Terry asked him.

"A few, but not much." Tim replied.

"Would you care to share?" Cherry asked.

"Well, when I was younger, I thought I was gonna go on and on, and someday... Capes and costumes, it was playing Hero, it was kid's stuff," Tim sighed. "Bruce probably did me a favor. In the end, I never wanted to see that stupid Robin suit again."

"That's rough, Tim. But fair." Bat-Mite replied.

"We better go." Terry said to Bat-Mite and Lady Gothika.

"Alright. We'll be in touch, Tim." Bat-Mite replied. "Good luck with Annie."

"Thank you..." Tim replied. "Farewell."

With a nod, the trio left.

"Were all of you that bitter when you left?" Terry asked once they took off.

"It comes with territory," Barbara replied. "Look up Nightwing, he's got some stories."

"I bet..." Lionel replied.

"Drake's clean anyway, I got one more lead to check out," Terry said. "Someone with a definite grudge to hold against Bruce Wayne."

"You mean...?" Cherry asked.

"Indeed." Terry nodded.

"Okay, time's a-wastin'!" Lionel replied.

"Oh, boy..." Cherry sighed. "All right, let's go then."

And so they headed off.

"Do you still get seasick?" Terry asked Cherry.

"Not as much as I used to." Cherry replied.

"Good, cuz we're gonna need our water wings for this case." Lionel replied.

"I should be fine," Cherry said. "I've taken years of pills during adventures at sea, especially with Atticus's family friend, Popeye the Sailor, so I think I've adapted by now."

"Good to know!" Lionel replied.

"I've got some medicine just in case, but I think I'll make it." Cherry said.

"All right, I just heard that you sometimes get queasy." Terry said to her.

"Let's just get this done." Lionel replied.


	7. Chapter 7

They then went onward to their next destination, which was a Wayne Enterprises ship that was being infested with a certain group who apparently didn't learn their lesson from Lionel AKA Bat-Mite earlier. Bat-Mite and the others landed on the boat. They peeked inside to see a certain man there with some of the Jokerz, especially the Dee Dee twins. Terry then reached out and touched the glass to listen in on the man talking with the Jokerz.

'You got more than you wanted. I even gave you the security code, so you could ransack the lab.'

"Not to mention, you bunglers tried to kill Wayne." Jordan Pryce replied.

"Word is Wayne is terminal anyhow." Chucko replied.

"That means you get to stay top dog." Dee 1 said.

"Everybody wins." Dee 2 added.

"So, why are you here" Jordan asked them.

"The big guy who originally put us in contact just decided you're a loose end." Chucko stated.

"And loose ends should be tied up." Ghoul added with a grin.

Jordan looked horrified and soon tried to run, only to run into Woof who kicked him against a table, and a Dee Dee handcuffed him to a leg of the table. "Let me go!" he then grunted and strained.

Ghoul spoke into his wristwatch. "Got 'im." he stated.

"Then am-scray pronto, kiddies," Joker replied until he set a timer. "Things are going to start popping."

"Let's go!" Chucko told the others.

"Not so fast!" Cherry glared as she soon jumped in with Terry and Lionel.

"Triple trouble, brats!" Lionel added.

"No one's leaving until we get answers." Terry glowered.

Ghoul used his pumpkin to bust the window next to him and he soon ran off with the other Jokerz.

"Looks like a no on the answers..." Lionel remarked.

"Always gotta do it the hard way." Cherry muttered.

"Sad, but true." Lionel sighed.

"Come on then, let's get those Sabrina twins." Cherry said.

"Dee Dee twins." Terry said to her.

"Whatever." Cherry replied.

"Melissa Joan Hart. Clever!" Lionel remarked.

"Talented girl," Cherry replied. "She'll always be the same person to me, no matter who she plays."

"Like when she was Zelda and Hilda in the animated series?" Lionel added.

"...Yeah, that's true." Cherry admitted. 

"What continuity are your Sabrina fics anyway?" Lionel asked. "They seem to be based on the animated series, but Drell was in like four episodes in the live-action sitcom."

"Eh, it's a bit of half and half since I liked both growing up," Cherry replied. "I thought it'd be interesting than just focusing on one over the other."

"Cool, so like an amalgamation universe!" Lionel realized.

"Pretty much, yeah," Cherry said. "I didn't really watch the sitcom until I was a bit older, so I really liked it too. I've always liked shows with magic elements in them, like Sabrina, or Bewitched, and Worst Witch."

"Wizards of Waverly Place." Atticus piped up.

"Yes, I was getting to that, but I've always liked shows like that, and I wanted to make something like that myself someday, which is also what inspired my fan fiction with Atticus here." Cherry replied.

"That's pretty damn cool." Lionel nodded.

Cherry winked to him and she soon wiggled her nose as she teleported herself outside to go after the Jokerz.

"Surprise!!" Lionel roared, expanding his jawline.

The Dee Dee twins looked irked.

"You two sure are interesting." Cherry smirked to the Dee Dee twins.

"Interesting...and irritating." Lionel added.

The twins soon cartwheeled towards them and kicked them both in their stomachs.

"Gah!" Cherry groaned as that hurt worse than it should have.

Lionel rushed over and helped Cherry to her feet. "That is it. You two are gonna get it now!" he yelled at the twins.

"God... Dammit!" Cherry grunted as she held her stomach.

Lionel set her down in a nearby chair, then grabbed a pipe and started swinging it like a bo-staff.

"Aw, did we strike a nerve with Princess Darkness?" The Dee Dee twins mocked Cherry.

"Shut... Up!" Cherry grunted out as she sounded weak.

"I'll strike YOUR nerves!" Lionel snapped.

The Dee Dee twins just giggled like the mischievous hyenas they were. Lionel just lunged like a ninja and kept on swinging the pipe around with deadly accuracy. The Dee Dee twins then used their gymnastic skills to save themselves as that was quite too close to comfort.

"C'mon, punks!" Lionel snarled. "You want some? You want s'more?"

Woof soon growled and lunged out to Lionel.

Lionel whistled, and Scrappy lunged at him, launching a spin-kick to his jaw. "You give dogs a bad name!" he remarked.

Woof growled at Scrappy, going to fight after him now.

"Bring it on, you ugly excuse for a canine!" Scrappy snapped.

"Cousin Oliver!" Woof retorted.

"At least I'm not some feral manimal!" Scrappy snapped, launching into a round of punches.

Woof snarled while attempting to fight Scrappy who had really changed a lot over the years.

"I was born like this..." Scrappy continued. "While you had to get experimented on, and turn yourself into some kinda freak!" He then smashed a lamp on his head.

"You know, you're kinda hot, for an old lady." Ghoul smirked to Cherry.

Cherry grabbed his arm and flung him forward, making him crash into the water overboard.

"Heh-heh," Lionel smirked. "Good one."

"I'm not old... Am I...?" Cherry asked as she sounded insecure about growing old.

"Pfft, nah, of course not!" Lionel replied. "That little punk was just being disrespectful as always..."

"I guess..." Cherry smiled sadly.

"It's alright. Besides, that just means you got more experience!" Lionel replied.

"Yeah..." Cherry replied to that. "Hmm... Dee Dee twins, check... Woof, check... Ghoul, check... Anyone else we're missing?" she then pondered as they took care of most of the Jokerz in their own way.

"Chucko!" Lionel replied.

"Of course!" Cherry face-palmed herself. "How did I miss that bozo?!"

"C'mon, we can still bag 'im!" Lionel replied. "I'm sure Terry's got him handled."

"He's a smart kid..." Cherry admitted. "Just to be safe, let's check on them."

Lionel nodded, and they raced off.

Terry soon helped out Jordan as he went to handle the Jokerz, though they were mostly taken care of thanks to Cherry and Lionel's help as they had more experience in this field than they did since they were much older than he was.

"Toldja he had it covered...even if we helped." Lionel remarked.

"Not bad, you guys," Terry said. "Bruce told me about a lot of times you helped out. Especially you, Cherry."

"Bruce always did say I was the daughter he never had." Cherry replied.

"True, true." Lionel nodded.

"Come on, we better go since the guys are taken care of around here." Terry suggested.

Lionel nodded, and they left.

As soon as they left, the ship seemed to explode right behind them with a huge whirlpool in the water.

"Whoa!!" Lionel exclaimed.

"I don't know what just happened..." Cherry muttered. "Quite literally abandon ship!"

"Good thing we did!" Lionel replied.

"Hang on tight." Cherry told Jordan.

"No problem!" Jordan replied as he held onto Terry while they flew away.

"So... Where do we drop 'im off?" Lionel wondered.

"I suggest the police." Cherry said.

"Good notion!" Lionel nodded.

A wave came closer behind them.

"Ooh, punch it, guys!" Cherry panicked. "You could drown!"

"Cranking it to MAXI-TURBO!!" Lionel replied, speeding up.

Cherry did her best to do the same, but yelped as she splashed.

"Cherry!" Lionel gasped.

Cherry soon came out to the surface, but she appeared to have a mermaid tail fin. 

"...Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." Lionel smiled bashfully. "Dang adventures. I guess an alternate version of the Little Mermaid adventures happened in this timeline." he replied.

"I guess so..." Cherry said. "Sorry about that, Lionel!"

"No problem. I actually remember those versions cuz I was in 'em!" Lionel replied.

Cherry glanced over to the fourth wall, raising her eyebrows, but said nothing as she gave a small smirk. Lionel shrugged with a smile.

Cherry soon came to the surface with them and her waist glowed before her legs came back. Once they got there, the police seemed to also be there.

"Looks like this delinquent crew is gonna get their comeuppance." Lionel smirked.

"We saw the explosion." One of the cops said.

"You could ask Mr. Pryce about that." Terry suggested.

"Me?" Jordan replied. "I had nothing to do with it!"

"Really now?" Lionel asked. "Well, you can explain it to the police."

"But I didn't do anything!" Jordan replied.

Terry soon pressed a playback button on what Jordan said about the security codes for The Jokerz.

"It's your words against yours." Lionel remarked.

"I want my lawyer." Jordan groaned.

"I think the commissioner would like to hear this too," Terry said as he took out the audio file to the police. "Night."

The cops saluted him as they began to take Jordan away since he was now under arrest.

"That's one problem solved." Lionel replied.

The clouds in the sky soon began to bunch up like there was a storm on the way.

"Come on, we better get back." Terry suggested.

Lionel nodded as they headed off. They then went down to Wayne Manor.


	8. Chapter 8

Bruce stood over to Cherry and Lionel as he seemed to have to tell them something.

"Hey, you're alright!" Lionel beamed. "I knew you'd pull through!"

"Yes... Also... I have to ask you two something." Bruce replied.

"Yeah?" Cherry asked.

Bruce soon took out LJ and Zofia by their collars. "Do these two belong to you?" he then asked.

"He-Hey, parentals!" LJ grinned.

Cherry face-palmed slightly.

"Cripes... How'd you two even get here?" Lionel asked.

"We kinda snuck out and took a plane ride over after Great-Aunt Selina gave us our dinner." Zofia replied.

Lionel sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We'll take them from here, Bruce," Cherry said. "Terry has something to show you anyway... I think."

"Very well." Bruce replied as he let go of the kids.

"Alright." Lionel replied.

Eventually, the kids bowed their heads as they were taken into Cherry's old bedroom in the mansion.

"All right, I don't know what you kids were thinking, but it was dangerous to come to Gotham City all by yourselves." Cherry told them.

"We know..." LJ replied.

"We need to get you back home. Now." Cherry said firmly.

"Ah, phooey." LJ grumbled.

"I'm calling Selina." Cherry said.

Zofia sighed. Cherry soon walked off.

"I told you this wouldn't work." Zofia said to her brother.

"Whaddyou mean? It was your idea!" LJ replied.

"No, it was your idea!" Zofia retorted.

"Whatever!" LJ replied, rolling his eyes.

"You two just wait here..." Lionel sighed. "We're not mad... Just disappointed."

"Aw, maaaan!" LJ sighed.

"Remember, not mad." Lionel replied.

"We know, that's what you grown-ups always say..." LJ sighed.

Cherry soon placed a call to her aunt once Lionel was talking to the kids.

Eventually, Selina came to retrieve LJ and Zofia.

"I'm so sorry, Kitten, I didn't know this was going to happen." Selina told Cherry.

"It's alright; sometimes nobody can expect these sort of things to happen." Lionel replied.

"Selina..." Bruce greeted.

"Hello, Bruce." Selina smiled as it had been a while.

Bruce coughed awkwardly behind his fist. "Well....I almost died....AGAIN..." he commented.

"Oh, my..." Selina frowned to him.

"In this line of work, it's something you get used to..." Bruce replied.

"My poor Bruce... I've missed you so much~" Selina smirked as she leaned against him.

Bruce sighed. "I suppose I missed you too." he replied with a small smile.

"I just can't believe the kids snuck over here..." Cherry sighed. "It's dangerous for them to be way out here."

"I guess they're pretty clever when it comes down to it," Lionel remarked. "I'm upset, and yet... A little proud."

"I think they should stay here for the time being." Selina said.

"Why?" Cherry asked her aunt.

"Well, I'm going to stay here and catch up with Bruce, and wherever I go, the kids go," Selina reminded. "I am their nanny."

"Alright!" LJ cheered.

"Selina...?!" Cherry replied.

"Kitten..." Selina said to her. "Please?"

Cherry sighed.

"Okay...." Lionel replied. "But they stay in here."

"That's fair enough," Selina smiled. "Have I ever let you guys down before?"

"That time with Gorilla Grodd and we got stuck in that wacko time warp?" Cherry replied.

"Oh, Kitten, you know I had good intentions." Selina reminded.

"There was also that time you hung out with Harley and Ivy on December 23rd and used Bruce's card on a big honkin' shopping spree." Lionel added.

"Hey, come on now, we're family." Selina smiled innocently.

"Alright..." Lionel smirked.

Cherry hid a slight eye roll. "Fine... I guess I could never stay mad at you... Aunt Selina."

"Likewise." Lionel nodded.

Selina soon hugged Cherry and Lionel with a smile. "What's family for?"

"Blackmail?" Cherry teased.

Lionel rolled his eyes with a smirk. "No, that's what incriminating evidence is for!" he replied.

"Very funny, both of you." Selina chuckled to them.

"Yeah, we know." Lionel replied.

Cherry hummed, still unsure.

"It'll be okay, Kitten," Selina promised. "You trust me to look after your little ones, so I will as long as I can stay here with your Uncle Brucey~"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" Zofia grinned.

"You're funny." Selina smiled to her young great-niece.

"Thanks, I try." Zofia smirked.

Selina giggled to that while Bruce shook his head playfully. Zofia had her mother's sense of humor. LJ just smirked.

"Now that that's taken care of, it's time to get back to work." Bruce told Cherry and Lionel.

"Right then!" Lionel agreed.

They soon walked off together. LJ and Zofia went to join in.

"I think you should come with me." Selina told her grandniece and nephew.

"Alright..." LJ and Zofia replied.

"I'll take care of them for now." Selina said.

"Thanks, Sel--Aunt Selina." Cherry replied.

"Yeah, thanks, Selina!" Lionel added.

Selina smiled as she soon went to take LJ and Zofia away.

"So, she's your nanny then?" Bruce asked.

"Nanny, grandmother figure, au pair, she just insists on helping with the kids." Cherry replied.

"Yup! And she's great at it!" Lionel added.

"I'm glad you're making amends," Bruce smiled to Cherry. "Selina really loves you, Cherry."

"Yeah... I've been told." Cherry replied about her ex-villain of an aunt.

"She's a good egg, she is." Lionel added.

"Come along, we should talk about this case with the Joker." Bruce suggested.

"Yeah, let's go." Cherry agreed with him.

Lionel followed behind.

They came in the main room of the Bat Cave and came to the computer.

"Hey, Ace~" Cherry cooed to Bruce's dog.

The dog whined and nuzzled up to her.

"Must be the original Ace's pup..." Lionel noted.

"Probably, yeah," Cherry replied. "The only dogs I'll really love... Next to maybe Atticus's dog, Spot with his 101 brothers and sisters, or whatever it was."

"You mean Patch?" asked Lionel.

"Patch, Spot, whatever." Cherry playfully rolled her eyes.

"If you say so." Lionel shrugged.

"Ooh, Terry, you don't look so good." Cherry said to the new Batman.

"I'm spent here," Terry groaned. "Every lead I have has gone face-down, and the Joker's still out there."

"Hey, it'll be okay, kid." Cherry reassured him.

"Yeah, we've been in tighter spots than this!" Lionel added.

"What have you got?" Terry sighed.

"...Okay, so this looks bad, but I've been through worse," Cherry replied. "It's gonna be harder though since my kids are now here in Gotham, after I specifically told them to stay home with Selina."

"This big man the Jokerz mentioned... No doubt he's the brain behind these happenings." Lionel replied.

"That must be it," Cherry agreed. "You think he's calling the shots?"

"Obviously!" Lionel nodded. "So we find the head honcho, and take him down!"

"Man, I wish I could be like you guys." Terry sighed.

"It's all right, kid," Cherry said. "We've just been doing this longer than you have."

"Yeah. You're basically just getting started." Lionel added

"I guess..." Terry sighed softly.

"These things take time!" Lionel replied.

"Yeah... I guess you're right," Terry said. "Thanks for the advice. You two must've seen a lot."

"Trust me, I know I have." Cherry replied as she brought out her adventure scrapbook.

"I've seen part of it, just not as much," Lionel added.

"I guess so." Terry replied, not feeling so bad anymore.

"I'll tell you about it later," Cherry told him. "I liked meeting Bugs Bunny's nephew Reader Rabbit though. It felt like a good, innocent time." 

"They're right though, it's really not that simple." Bruce said as he soon came to catch up with them.

"No kidding. I've still only heard about 1/3rd of the adventures..." Lionel replied.

Everyone soon looked over to see Bruce as he came down.

"You doing okay, Bruce?" Cherry asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Lousy..." Bruce muttered to her. 

"I'm sorry." Cherry said.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll take down the creep doing this, and bring an end to it all." Lionel promised.

"I'm sure you guys can do it... Even if I didn't want you even near The Joker again after what happened." Bruce said as he pet Ace.

"I know." Lionel sighed quietly.

"We... Told Terry about Tim..." Cherry said. "So did Barbara."

"I should've known." Bruce replied.

"We also visited him today... It was kinda awkward." Lionel added.

"So I see..." Bruce replied softly.

"Surprisingly, he seemed like he'd moved on quite nicely."

"You're not hurt, are you?" Bruce asked, mostly looking to Cherry.

"I. Am. Not. A BABY!" Cherry complained. 

"She's fine," Lionel replied. "Same for me. Guess those protective instincts never go away..."

"I'm sorry, Cherry, but you'll always be my little baby bat, even when you get to be my age." Bruce said to the young woman.

"You sound like such a dad." Cherry teased with a smirk. 

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Well, somebody has to."

"You always did wanna adopt me..." Cherry smirked to him. 

"Someone has to keep you safe in Gotham when you're not home with your parents," Bruce smirked back. "Not to mention that time you stood up for me when Captain Hero crashed that Superhero Cocktail Party, and he did an impression of my parents..." he then muttered lowly.

"Even I found that sick, but I think Captain Hero is more of a superhero than Captain Man and Kid Danger," Cherry replied. "Poor Atticus had to put up with them at one point in our adventures. Lionel, be lucky you didn't see that one."

"As lucky as I was to meet you." Lionel nodded.

"Nothing against you guys or the other old partners, but I'm a completely different Batman," Terry replied. "I was never a Robin. I was never--" he then looked over to the old costumes on display. "Wait... Joker smashed up the cases, but why was this the only costume he went out of his way to destroy?"

"Perhaps a twisted mockery of his final victim?" Lionel asked.

"He was indeed shot." Bruce replied.

"A ghost out for revenge?" Terry asked. 

"After my adventures with Selene and the Russo family from Waverly Place, I'd believe just about anything," Cherry said. "Especially with ghosts after those times I've spent in Amity Park with Danny Phantom." 

"No... That's too ridiculous," Lionel replied. "Especially for THIS universe."

"...Yeah, it kinda is," Cherry said. "Nice thinking, Terry."

Terry rolled his eyes from that. "Anyway, Drake's got less love for that costume than the Joker," he then said. "I think somehow he's behind this." 

"Maybe he's got more involvement in this than even he knows..." Lionel added.

"That's crazy..." Bruce told them in denial. 

"Sure, but not unheard of," Lionel replied. "Can't hurt to check again."

"Bruce, I know this is tough, but it's possible," Cherry told her godfather. "We also have information on what the Jokerz stole."

"She's right, I have the readout." Terry then added.

They soon looked on the screen to show Bruce their progress.

"Now let's combine those into something that would be used by a communications expert," Terry then suggested as they did that. "Someone of Tim Drake's caliber."

"A satellite jamming system..." Bruce realized. "Whoever uses this can access satellite defense systems, and fire them at will." 

"So let's jet." Lionel replied.

Bruce turned away as he seemed to be in strong denial. 

Lionel proceeded to suit up. "We going or what?"

"I'm going with Lionel," Cherry told Bruce. "If you wanna stay here, that's fine. Maybe you can tell the kids stories since they're your honorary grandchildren." 

"Sounds like a plan!" Lionel agreed as Terry joined them.

Bruce soon took Cherry's arm, stopping her. "Take the car and check it out," he then told her. "I'll monitor you from there."

"What happened to leaving it to the cops?" Cherry smirked.

"Not their game." Bruce smirked back before letting her go. 

"WAHOOO!!!" Lionel whooped.

"There's something else I want to take with me." Terry told Bruce.

Bruce looked down and smiled as he knew that Terry meant Ace.

LJ and Zofia looked out the window of their guest room as Terry went off with their parents. 

"There they go!" LJ commented.

"Be safe, Mater and Pater." Zofia hoped for her parents. 

"And kick some butt, too!" LJ added.

Zofia nodded before yawning as it was quite late for them to be up at this hour. They both then went to get some sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

The heroes soon went for the laboratory with Ace on their side since Terry wanted him there. 

"Alright... The final showdown is at hand...." Lionel smirked.

"This is going to get really juicy." Cherry smirked back to him. 

"Let's make it a good one!" Lionel added.

"All right, here we go. There's Drake." Terry pointed out for them. 

"Okay!" Lionel nodded.

"Okay, I think we're all set." Cherry said to Lionel and Terry.

Ace barked and panted.

"Shh." Cherry reminded the Bat Hound.

"Quiet, boy." Lionel advised.

Ace soon calmed down the best that he could.

Terry leapt down from the rafters and approached Tim. "Drake.... I know you're the connection to the Joker." he explained.

Tim didn't seem to react or notice them.

"Don't pretend you didn't hear me," Terry glared, reaching out only for Tim to disappear which only meant one thing. "Hologram!"

"Slag!" Lionel swore, as a laser gate appeared and a projector screen popped up. On it, Joker blew a noisemaker.

"You guessed it, Batfake!" he grinned. "The disgruntled Mr. Drake is INDEED in my employ; took him a few years, but he finally figured out who ran the real winning team."

"Liar!" Lionel shouted. "Tim would NEVER work for a scumbag like you willingly!!"

"Ah, your boyfriend sounds so sure of himself, Baby Bat." Joker mocked Cherry. 

"INFIDEL!" Cherry snarled.

"Aaaaanywho, this is one of Uncle Sam's orbiting defense satellites. Hyperion-class, laser-armed. Handy little gadget for shooting down unfriendly missiles...or giving someone a world-class hotfoot." Joker continued. "Think of it as urban tagging on a global scale, reminding all that THIS is Joker territory. You're welcome to try and stop it, but I'm not taking bets on that happening any time soon. Toodles!" And then, he was gone.

"Time to go!" Terry decided as he flew up, but the laser defense system zapped him, knocking him down, then he and the others had to dodge laser fire from the rest of the grid. Eventually, Terry managed to take the grid out, and the trio escaped to the Batwing.

"I'll have his head!" Cherry scowled about the Joker. "This I swear!"

Terry put up a map on his screen. It targeted the "Jolly Jack Candy Factory" at 691 Broome St.

"Abandoned candy factory.... Of course," Lionel remarked. "Yo Bruce, think we got something. Download this transmission & tell Gordon to have her men at that address."

Suddenly, the screen went squirmy, and Joker's ugly mug replaced the map. "Aren't you the nasty tattletales? Ratting me out before I've had my fun! Papa spa~nk!" he waved a finger at them, before they suddenly noticed a light hovering over them.

"That light.... It's the freakin' super-laser!" Lionel gulped, sweat running down his face.

"I feel sick now..." Cherry grumbled.

The light continued to follow them as they rode off down the road with seemingly no escape. And they subsequently had to dodge the series of laser-blasts that followed them, causing massive amounts of property damage in the process. Ace let out a small whimper from that.

"THIS IS CRAZY!" Cherry yelped. "I can't do this anymore! I'm a mother for pony's sake!"

Joker laughed all the while, until he began to sweat. "Whew...I'd better sit down before I bust a gut. Catch ya later, kiddo!" he remarked before he shut off the transmission and the laser.

Lionel cracked his neck. "Then let's go make sure our kid lives to see their first birthday." And like a bullet, Terry flew the Batwing to the factory.

Unfortunately, Chucko was on the roof, and he fired a bazooka at the Batwing. But Lionel just caught it in his mouth, and spat it right back at him, causing the bazooka to blow up, knocking him over. As soon as the Wing landed, the trio stepped out, but were quickly confronted by Woof.

"Ace. SIC 'IM, BOY!!" Lionel snapped, and the dog lunged at Woof, barking furiously.

Ace soon snarled and came towards Woof. Woof growled as he didn't find Ace to be much of a threat at first. Ace soon attacked and bit Woof on the arm.

"Good Bat Dog." Cherry smirked.

Woof soon ran off, and Ace tore off behind him. Ghoul was right behind them, but Lionel gut-punched him.

"Nice hit." Terry smirked to Lionel.

"Thanks!" Lionel replied, as the Dee-Dee twins backflipped into battle.

"Hello, TweedleDum and TweedleDumber." Cherry greeted the twins.

The twins growled and rushed them as Lionel snapped his fingers, turning the trio invisible. Lionel then smirked as he shoved one of the twins, causing them to begin shoving each other.

"Watch it!"

"You watch it!"

The Dee Dee twins were then knocked into each other, falling onto the floor.

"It's them!" Dee Dee 1 glared as she stood up with her sister.

"Well-well, I guess you AREN'T as dim as you look!" Lionel chuckled.

The Dee Dee twins smirked to each other before rushing over.

"Back so soon? Why don't you guys have a nice TRIP?!" Cherry replied before opening a box filled with marbles scattering on the floor.

The two girls slipped and slid on the marbles until they fell over.

"You two seem to have lost your marbles, so why don't you have some of mine?" Lionel smirked down to them.

The Dee Dee twins looked up and glared.

"Hello." Cherry smirked.

The twins then ran up to her until she soon teleported away, using some magic she hadn't used in many years. 

"Goodbye." Cherry smirked as she made them clonk into each other.

The twins then turned to Lionel, and began to rush him, until he leapt into the air.

"Whoa...I didn't know he could fly!" they remarked.

"Nah. Jump Good!" Lionel chuckled.

"Double down." Terry smirked to that.

"Right on that, dude!" Lionel grinned as he landed back on the ground.

"Come on, this way." Terry said.

Cherry and Lionel then came with him as they came into a hole that was a new doorway now. They soon dropped down and explored the abandoned factory as it was quite creepy to look at.

"Lovely playroom... You getting this, BW?" asked Lionel as he glanced around.

"I see it," Bruce replied. "You keep your eyes open for the Joker."

"I won't let you down." Cherry promised her godfather.

They kept walking around until they found someone who seemed to be on the floor.

"Tim!" Lionel realized as they ran over.

"Get up, Drake." Terry ordered as Tim regained consciousness.

"Ugh... What?" Tim groaned as he rubbed his head. "Who is it?"

"Where's the Joker?" Terry demanded to know.

"Joker?" Tim asked, a bit clueless at first.

"Drop the act. I know you're working for him." Terry retorted.

"No. Joker's gone. I dunno where he is, really." Tim replied.

"Hmm..." Cherry glanced at Tim, looking into his eyes.

Tim looked back into hers.

"He seems to be telling the truth," Cherry said. "Bruce? You got a second opinion?"

"The suit sensors aren't picking up any pulse fluctuations," Bruce replied. "He's telling the truth."

"I don't do this anymore," Tim explained as he stumbled over. "I have a home and family. I gave this up years ago. Kid stuff, that's all it was. Oh, God...I killed him. Every night I close my eyes, I still see his dead smile...every night, the dreams get stronger." he began clutching his sweaty head. "I see him, laughing at me, telling me I'm just as bad as he is!"

"I'm calling an ambulance." Terry replied.

"No...I'm alright. Forgive me, Terry. Just a lot of bad memories twisting inside me like bad oysters..." Tim sighed.

Terry blinked. "How do you know my name?" he asked.

"There's nothing about you I don't know, Batfake," Tim smirked as he threw a device at Terry that became a claw which clamped down and zapped Terry. "Have a time-out, kid. Can't letcha spoil the party too soon," he sneered. "And Bruce? I'm sure you've got your errand boys wired. Peachy, cuz I want ya to see every minute of this--it's a killer." He began to clutch his head as he laughed, growing more and more manic, His skin turned pale-white, his nose became long and pointy, and he began to take a familiar form.

"My God... He's turning into A WERE-JOKER!!" Lionel gasped.

"Lionel?!" Cherry sweat-dropped as that was as crazy as 'Plant-zoids' that time they had to help out Harley Quinn with Poison Ivy.

"No, seriously!" Lionel replied frantically.

"Ooh, I NEVER get tired of that!" Joker cackled as he tossed the labcoat aside.

"Bah!" Cherry glared. "I should've known!"

"You're a little off your game, aren't you, Baby Bat?" Joker mocked.

"Drake.... You're the Joker?" asked Terry.

Joker scoffed. "That flabby oaf doesn't even realize I'm using him as a timeshare. Beneath this puckish exterior lies the mind of a genius, years ahead of my time!" he replied.

"More like a hack with his head up his ass..." Lionel retorted.

"Oh, you're very sassy," Joker smirked. "In the weeks young Robin was under my tutelage, I used him as a subject of my greatest experiment. Utilizing cutting-edge genetics technology, which I had pinched here and there, I encoded my DNA on a microchip, and set it into bird-boy's birdbrain!"

"You are insane!" Cherry replied.

"You're just now noticing this?" Joker smirked, pinching her cheek a bit. "I think you need to retire with Goddaddy Batsy."

"Go sit on a cactus, you bastard!" Lionel scowled.

"Ah, no thank you, I'm enjoying what I'm doing right now, thank you," Joker smiled evilly. "Everything that was me has been a-sleeping all comfy and cozy, inside Tim Drake's subconscious. At first, I had to limit the time I spent in Drake's body. He's not aware of what I do, chalking up any lingering memories to bad dreams. If his family misses him, I simply call wifey and tell her: 'I'm working late, honey'."

Cherry's eyes widened in surprise to the voice change as she wasn't expecting that.

"Damn..." Lionel grumbled.

"The changes come at will now, and soon, I'll be strong enough to live in this body permanently," Joker grinned as he looked victorious. "Mr. J's on the rebound, baby! My comeback party's gonna set the whole town on fire!" he soon went to a keyboard and began to type something in as something launched from right behind Cherry, Terry, and Lionel.

The large object shot a beam into space, which activated the satellite laser.

"You sick little monkey!" Cherry glared as she stood up before groaning slightly as she held her stomach. "Ooh... I think I got up too fast."

"Easy, LG." Lionel replied as he helped her up.

"So where should I make Ground 0?" Joker asked. "Gotham General, where our hero's dear little Dana is recuperating? Or here, in the happy garden of Mrs. Mary McGinnis? I always think it adds resonance to a hero to have some defining element of tragedy in his background, don't you?"

Terry growled.

"Ah.... But the one-and-only kick-off point must be Stately Wayne Manor. Gone in a flash before Brucey can hustle the pipsqueaks to safety or mount a rescue!" Joker grinned. "Don't worry, though...I'll be hitting those other spots soon enough."

Lionel's eyes widened. Selina...LJ....Zofia! he realized. "You scum-sucking BASTARD!!" he yelled. "YOU EVEN TOUCH THAT BUTTON, AND I'LL CRACK YOUR SKULL LIKE AN EGG!!"

Joker merely smirked. "Adios, Brucey... I guess I should salute you all as worthy adversaries and all that, but the truth is, I really did hate your guts," he then told them before blowing them a raspberry. "What about it, gang? Any last words for the old Batfart with the brats you've spawned with Cat Lady babysitting them for ya?"

"Yeah... See ya next Fall!" Cherry glared before tripping him by kicking his legs.

Joker yelped and fell on the floor from that.

"Sic him!" Cherry commanded which then summoned Ace.

And Scrappy was with him. "PUPPY POWER, PUNK!" he yelled as he proceeded to beat up on Joker while Ace ripped off the electrocuting device from Terry's arm.

"Scrappy, I never thought I'd be so happy to see you in all of my life." Cherry said to the Great Dane puppy who was all grown up.

"Likewise!" Scrappy nodded.

"Ace, come!" Cherry called out.

Ace soon rushed over to help them out of their traps, growling a bit viciously because of The Joker.

"Keep your guard up, man!" Scrappy nodded.

Ace seemed to salute his fellow canine. Scrappy nodded as he continued beating up on the Joker. The Joker grinned and soon took out a strong electrical buzzer and shocked Scrappy on impact.

"GYAAAAAAAH!!!" Scrappy cried out as he was thrown back by the force of the zap. He was a bit shaken up, but he managed to get back to his feet.

"You okay, Scraps?" Cherry asked him.

"Yeah... Just a little singed..." Scrappy coughed.

"End of the line, Snoopy and Scooby Don't." Joker smirked to Ace and Scrappy.

"HEY, YOU!!!" Lionel yelled, throwing a fireball at Joker. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DOGS!!"

The Joker looked over before yelping slightly and ducking away from the fireball.

"I got lots more where that came from!" Lionel snapped.

The Joker growled from that.

"Joker, this ends now, I have to end this chapter of you ruining my life." Cherry glowered towards the clown.

"Same here! Your evil ends tonight!" Lionel added.

Cherry growled and soon lunged out for the Joker like she was a lioness who had captured her prey, knocking his joy buzzer right off of his finger. The resulting shock shut off the laser system, causing the satellite to fire a beam right into the city.

"Oh, good. The beam's headed HERE!" Joker remarked. "Now I gotta start ALL over again. Thanks for wreckin' everything, Baby Bat. See you around."

"I'd rather never see you again." Cherry growled menacingly.

"Hold it!" Terry snapped, grabbing Joker.

"Smarten up, rookie; GAME'S OVER!!" Joker yelled.

"Wake up, stupid. THIS AIN'T A GAME!!" Lionel growled. "This time, we play for keepsies."

"Funny guy." Joker smirked.

"Can't say the same for you." Terry retorted.

Joker socked Terry in the gut and threw the trio into a table.

"You're outta your league, kiddies; I know every trick the old Batman & Robin knew in their day." Joker remarked.

"You also tried to brainwash my friend into being one of yours before you took Tim away!" Cherry glared. 

"You should really join the dark side like your aunt." Joker smirked.

"Take your dark side and shove it up your ass!" Lionel snarled, conjuring another fireball.

"Maybe, but you don't know anything about me." Terry remarked.

"YOU?!" Joker snorted. "What's to KNOW?! You're a punk; a rank amateur! A costumed errand-boy taking orders from a senile old man, a pipsqueak, and a little girl. Still, if it's a whoopin' you're wantin'...." he rolled up his sleeves and put up his dukes.

Just then, Terry raced towards the door. "That's right: better to run and save yourself," Joker smirked, before Terry closed the door and broke off the lever.

"Simply ensuring we don't get interrupted," Lionel replied. "Now... Let's dance, Krusty."

Terry lunged at Joker and knocked him over; the Clown Prince of Crime spotted a pipe and tried to hit him, but Terry just leapt over, and Lionel blocked the thrown pipe which would've most-likely hit him. Just when Joker was about to use this opportunity to punch him, Cherry popped up and tried to punch him, but Joker just elbowed her in the chin, then Lionel tango-spun her out of the way.

"Y'know, it's too bad I have to kill you!" The Joker called out. "With the right amount of conditioning, you would've made an excellent new Harley! Just hafta dye your pigtails red and blue, replace the mallet with a baseball bat, get some REALLY short-shorts, pair of fishnet stockings, and voila! Daddy's Li'l Monster!"

Lionel smirked darkly. "Gee, Joker, I knew you were crazy, but I didn't know you were a perverted old man, too!" he snorted.

"Yeesh..." Cherry sweat-dropped. "Just what is wrong with you, Joker?!"

Lionel shrugged. "We can discuss it when he's dead." he replied.

"Yeeeeahhh..." Cherry smirked darkly.

"That look in her eye is scaring me." Terry commented.

"What can I say?" Lionel shrugged. "I love it when she gets like this!"

"You're not getting off that easily." Joker glared.

"Funny, I was just going to say the same thing about you." Cherry retorted.

"In fact.... You've been getting off easy your whole life," Lionel added. "But not anymore...!"

"Especially with my children concerned, I'll make sure you never bother anyone again!" Cherry glared as background music played known as Spear of Justice from the video game Undertale.

"So... Any suggestions, boss?" asked Terry through his com-link.

"Joker's vain, likes to talk and he'll try to distract you," Bruce explained. "But don't listen, block it out and power through."

"Wait... I like to talk, too." Terry replied, as the trio dodged more punches.

"Listen, kid, you best listen to Bruce." Cherry said to Terry like he was a small child.

"No, I get what he's going for!" Lionel replied, gaining a wide smirk. "Joker said he knew every trick Batman and Robin knew in their heyday, right? Except.... Beating him at his OWN game!"

"Hmm..." Cherry paused for a moment. "That's true."

"The kid's smarter than he lets on..." Lionel nodded, as Terry kneed Joker in the gut.

"What're you... DOING?!" The Joker gasped.

"Fighting dirty." Terry retorted.

"The real Batman would NEVER---" Joker began, before Terry twisted his arm. "Toldja you didn't know me." he mocked before kicking Joker back a few feet. Joker lunged at him, before Terry leapt away and caused Joker to slam into the table.

"Surprise, Mutha." Cherry glared down at the Joker.

"Baby Bat... Why...?" Joker grunted out weakly.

"Whoa, dumber than advertised," Lionel mocked, jabbing a thumb at Joker. "For all the people whose lives you RUINED." he growled.

"You wouldn't kill me, none of you have the guts!" The Joker replied.

"It's been 40 years. You'd be surprised how much guts you gain from almost losing your mentor/father-figure." Lionel replied.

"Impudent brats....who do you think you're talking to?!" Joker growled.

"Not a comedian, I'll tell ya that." Lionel scoffed, as Joker took out a pistol and shot at him, but Lionel just hopped out of the way.

"The real Batman never talked to you much, did he?" asked Terry. "That's probably why you were fixated on him."

"Don't play psychoanalyst with ME, boy." Joker snapped.

"Oh, we don't need degrees to figure YOU out." Cherry retorted.

"You wouldn't dare!" Joker glared.

"TRY US!" Cherry and Lionel retorted.

Lionel then shot a blast at the fuse box, causing it to shut off.

"The real reason you just wouldn't die is cuz you never got a laugh outta the old man." Terry remarked.

"I'm not hearing this...." Joker said to himself.

"Get a clue, Pennywise; he's got no sense of humor." Lionel added in a Vegeta-esque voice. "The old man wouldn't know a good joke if it bit him in the cape; of course, that would mean you HAD good jokes to begin with."

Cherry soon cracked her knuckles and neck as she looked like she had murder in her eyes as she was fed up with the Joker.

"Shut up...SHUT UP!!" Joker growled.

"I mean, joy buzzers, squirting flowers? LAME!" Lionel continued. "Where's the A-material? Make a friggin' face, drop yer pants, do a pratfall, ANYTHING!!"

"Show yourself!!" Joker yelled.

"Nah, I like scaring the wits out of you a lot better." Cherry chuckled.

"Ya know, you make me laugh.... But only because you're so damned pathetic." Lionel continued.

"I said SHOW YOURSELVES!" Joker glowered. "This isn't funny! Or scary!"

And then Terry began to chuckle. But it sounded deranged, creepy....inhuman.

"Okay, that's creepy even for me..." Cherry said.

"COME OUT!" Joker demanded.

"So you fell in a tank of acid, got yer skin bleached, and decided to become a supervillain," Terry snorted. "What, couldn't get a job as a rodeo clown?"

"Ooh, burn!!" Lionel snickered.

"BURN!" Cherry added, trying to sound like Kelso from That 70's Show.

"DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT ME!!" Joker growled, as he threw more explosives. 

"What? I thought you WANTED to make Batman laugh!" Terry cackled.

"YOU'RE NOT BATMAN!" Joker growled. He threw another bomb, knocking Terry off his feet; and then pinned Terry under a table and began strangling him after unmasking him. "C'mon, McGinnis, laugh it up now!" The Joker cackled, as he tightened his grip. "You little punk....LAUGH!! I....CAN'T....HEAR....YOOOOOOU!!"

"AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!!" Lionel shouted as he leapt down from the rafters.

"Ooohhhh!" Cherry added like in the SpongeBob theme song.

"Don't even think about singing that infernal song no one likes!" Joker glared to them.

"Ha... Ha..." Terry grunted out before raising his hand before putting it on his cheek, zapping the Joker with his own buzzer.

"SEE YOU IN HELL!!" Lionel yelled. "SPONG-EE-BOBBBB.....SQUAAAAAARE-PAAAAAAAAANTS!!!" he sang the last bit as the Joker got electrocuted.

The Joker yelled out as he took his final breath as this seemed to be the end for him. For good.


	10. Chapter 10

"And that's all, folks." Lionel smirked.

Cherry moved the table and held out her hand. Terry took her hand and soon stood up beside her. The Joker soon melted away into none other than Tim Drake.

"Easy... We've got you." Terry smiled to him as he helped him up.

"It's over... It's finally over." Lionel sighed.

"It's all over now~" Cherry sang.

They soon took that time to leave the factory. Ace scratched at the door before barking.

"Way ahead of ya, mutt." Terry said before taking out an explosive so that they could leave the factory.

"Right!" Scrappy replied. "Let's get goin'!"

KABOOM! They soon rushed out the door once they were free to go at last. They got into the Batwing and took off. The whole factory exploded as soon as they took their leave. Lionel hugged Cherry, crying tears of joy.

"And we are outta here!" Cherry announced, but gave him a small pat on the back.

"YEEEHAAAAW!" Scrappy howled as they left... But not before making a stop at the Gotham Police Station as the Dee Dees were being bailed out... Naturally, they went in their civilian guises.

"You sure we should watch this?" Cherry asked.

"I think you'll be satisfied with what you see." Scrappy smiled to her.

"Delia and Deidre Dennis?" read the policewoman. "Your grandmother has paid your bail, and you're being released into her custody pending your trial."

"Oh, joy." the twins remarked sarcastically.

Cherry giggled, but Lionel and Scrappy tried to shush her while trying not to laugh themselves.

"You rotten little scamps!" The old woman scolded her twin granddaughters. "I struggle to make a good home for you, and this is the thanks I get?!" she then whacked them with her cane. "Break a grandmother's heart! I hope they throw the book at you!"

"Oh, shut up, Nana Harley." The twins grumbled.

As soon as they were out of sight, Lionel, Cherry, and Scrappy all had a good laugh at their expense.

"Better?" Scrappy asked.

"Aw, Scraps, that was amazing!" Cherry smirked. "I'm pretty sure they're grounded for life now!"

"Definitely!" Lionel replied. "I guess Harley did do some growing up mentally!"

They soon left as the Dee Dee twins had a long ride home with their grandmother.

Eventually, they arrived at the hospital to visit Tim, and Barbara was already there as well. 

"You didn't have to cover up for me, Barbara." Tim said to her as he took her hand.

"The Joker's gone, Tim," Barbara told him. "You were just along for the ride."

"She has a point there, bud." Lionel remarked as he and the others came in.

"How're you doing, Mr. Drake?" Tim asked as he came in with them.

"Tim, this is Terry McGinnis." Barbara introduced.

"We met the other night." Terry said as he shook hands with Tim.

Lionel nodded in agreement.

"We have?" Tim asked before thinking about it. "Oh! I owe you big time."

"Forget it." Terry smiled.

"For what it's worth, Bruce couldn't have chosen anyone better to put on the mask." Tim replied.

"You could say Terry is... The Son of the Mask!" Cherry said before laughing at her own dumb joke before sighing. "I used to love that movie when I was a kid."

"I mostly enjoyed the cartoony sequences with the dog and the baby." Lionel replied.

"Same..." Cherry replied. "Anyway..." she then looked back to the others.

"Coming from you, that means everything." Terry smiled to Tim.

"Sometimes the important things go unsaid," Tim replied. "If there's one thing I've learned, you've got to appreciate the people in your life while you have the chance."

"True, true." Lionel nodded.

"Not everyone is capable of expressing that, Tim," Barbara said to him. "No matter how much they might feel it in their heart."

"I know." Tim replied.

Terry, Lionel and Cherry stepped into the hallway, only to see Bruce and Selina.

"What're you doing here?" asked Terry.

"It's where I should be." Bruce stated as he walked over.

Terry soon began to walk off.

"Terry!" Bruce called to him. "I've been thinking about something you once told me, and you were wrong. It's not Batman that makes you worthwhile. It's the other way around. Never tell yourself anything different."

"Thanks." Terry smiled, as Bruce and Selina headed inside the room.

"Hello, Tim." Bruce remarked as Selina waved.

"Hey, old man." Tim replied.

Terry smiled to that before he soon walked off.

Soon, the trio stood, overlooking Neo-Gotham City.

"This city... It makes me think of those times you came along with me to visit my sister when she became an honorary member of The Men in Black." Cherry said to Lionel. 

"I vaguely remember those times," Lionel replied. "But hey, at least our next kid will be able to grow up safe. Besides, this city needs protecting, and we're the best team for the job."

"Yes... That's true..." Cherry said as she rubbed her stomach briefly. 

"Now, as Jim Cummings himself would say: LET'S GET DANGEROUS!!" Lionel announced.

"Hmm... Yes..." Cherry smirked as they soon left.

And so, Terry, Lionel, and Cherry took off into the night to protect Neo-Gotham City from any evils that might befall it. Selina smiled as she looked very proud of her favorite niece, and Bruce was plenty proud of her, too. 

"Kitten is a very amazing girl, isn't she?" Selina smiled.

"I always knew she was." Bruce smiled back. 

"And her friend's really something, too." Tim added.

As the trio streaked through the sky, Lionel called out, "I AM VENGEANCE; I AM THE NIGHT; I! AM! BAT-MITE BEYOND!!!"

Lightning struck as he said that as they passed through the night sky. 

The End!


End file.
